Captured
by JustANerdThing
Summary: What happened to Beth? Who took her? This is my theory of what happened and what will happen with Beth and Darryl. This is based off of season 4 episode 13 "alone" spoilers if you haven't seen it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so if you've read my other story Aftermath which is still in progress here's another one. That last episode had me so surprised, I had so many thoughts on the many things that could've happened I decided to write one. At first I thought the Beth & Darryl thing was kind of weird, but after that episode I've noticed how much chemistry they have. I hope he finds her!**

I watch them as they as they walk past the gravestones of the cemetery. The girl with the injured foot on top of the man's back as he carries her to the house. I had been preparing a body for a burial when I saw them; I was half way done with the make up to make them look how they were when they were alive. Douglas, a white shaggy haired mutt that I had found after the apocalypse, was the reason I had noticed them, without his barking I would've gone about my day like any other.

They were the first people I have seen since the dead had begun to rise, (I suppose it makes since why most people had avoided cemeteries) but no it had been much longer than that since I had last seen people. I didn't have a family, I wasn't one for friends, and you certainly didn't make friends on the job when you were a mortician.

The girl had caught my eye; so young with beautiful skin, blonde hair, and innocent. My heart raced just looking at her, I was immediately drawn to her.

As they approach the house, I let Douglas out the back door then walk back to the hall to open up the attic door and climb inside the dark humid space. As I close the door I hear the door to the house open followed by a few thuds and talking. The heat envelopes me as I crawl deeper into the attic following the sound of their footsteps. I sit silently and wait to hear more talking or the echoe of their footsteps traveling deeper into the house. Suddenly I hear the quiet sound of talking; it's to distant to make out any words yet it sounded like it was right next to me, I follow the sound until I find a cylindrical pipe.

They're in the prep. room where I ready the corpses for burial. It was the lowest room in the house, but the pipe (that must've had some conventional use when it was made 80 years ago) led all the way down to that room.

I put my ear to the pipe and listen intently.

"I think it's beautiful. Whoever did this they still remember that these things used to be people." As I hear the girl say the words it's like music to my ears. She had seen the bodies of the dead that I was trying to make seem human again. She understands why I do this; she doesn't think I'm a creep or a freak. I've never felt more understood; a flood of joy fills me.

I think off the man that's with her, he surely could not appreciate her qualities like I can. He doesn't deserve her company. I couldn't win him in fight, though I was taller than him my lanky build didn't compete with his brute muscle.

How do I get that man away from her long enough to take her away?

* * *

The hot sun beats away at my back; I swipe the sweat of my forehead and focus on the task at hand. I clang the pans together making a loud ping ring through the forest, in a matter of minutes the hungry growls of the dead closes in. Once they're in eyesight I walk backwards watching my step heading back to my house. By the time I reach the tree line that opens up to the cemetery, the crowd has grown to dozens and the sun has long since been replaced the moon. The dead herd followed by their goal to tear the flesh off my bones will, if all goes well, instead feed on the man. I risk killing the girl, but I'm not faced with many options.

I get into my car that's parked at the forests edge and pull up to the house. As the dead hoard gets closer to the house, I grab Douglas who was sitting on the side of the house and carry him to the front of the house. This morning the man had come to the door when he heard Douglas, he'll probably do it again. The dog barks at the approaching dead; shaking with fear he yelps scrambling to get out of my arms. I run back to the car as the dead walk up the stairs of the porch. I hear the door open and the screaming that follows. I stuff Douglas in the backseat of my car and wait outside, watching all the exits to see wear the girl could exit.

Eventually the girl comes running out, surprise etches her face as she stares into mine.

"What's going on?! I just got here," I say feigning the best worried facade I'm capable of.

"Walkers got in the house! There's still a person inside; we have to help!" She says then spins back around appaarnetly set on saving him whether I helped or not.

"Woah, you can't go back there," I pull her arm and stare down at her, "he's probably already dead."

Her face is blank but suddenly a thought finally triggers, "How did you know it was a guy?"

I sigh, "I wished it didn't have to happen this way." Immediately I begin to drag her with me back to the car. She puts up a fit hitting, kicking, and screaming. I hold one arm pinned behind her back and try to reach for the other when she kicks my groin. I nearly kneel over in pain as she runs back to the house. I groan and go after her, tackling her down and punching her side hard enough to make my knuckles sore. In this one second that she's distracted by the pain I drag her by her hair back to the car and lift her up. She thrashes back and forth hitting me with a bag. She pulls out her knife as I pull out my gun and is about to make a lethal stab when I thrash the gun against her head. I grab the knife and stash it in my pocket as her limb hand lets go of it. The bag falls to the ground and I stuff her unconscious body in the trunk.

Just as I start the car and begin to drive away the man comes out of the house. Damn, I thought he died. I stare at the review mirror as he stares at the back of the car, for a brief second it was although I stared him straight in the eye.

He chases after us, screaming her name, "Beth! BETH!"

I drive away with a sense of accomplishment, though the girl was more difficult than I thought she would be to capture and the man didn't die; I still pulled it off.

Maybe it's the fading of an adrenaline rush or the loss of my home, but a small tension rises inside me that I can't put a finger on. The only thing that I can think of is the expression of the man's face, a hard calloused look that was angered and yet still worried, an expression you'd expect to find on a dog after taking away one of its possessions; it was not an expression that I wanted directed at me.


	2. Failed

**Hi there, 2nd chapter is up! Wooh! I didn't want the chapters to be too long so I should be able to keep them going with just a few days apart. Anyways hope you enjoy and special thanks to heres2dream, , DarylDixon'sLover (lol funny name), JoyScott13, ElizabethandDarcy, driver picks the music, blissfulbeauty99, and elsachelle!**

_Beth_

My feet slam on to the ground sending an ache through my injured foot and a moan escapes my lips. I flee from the house and head towards the road with doubt rising in my mind. I should do what Daryl told me to. But what if he needs my help? What if I make things worse? I wasn't a fighter and a hurt foot to top it made me doubt that I could benefit Daryl's situation.

My thoughts are distracted when I see a car parked in the middle of the road, the engine still going with a man standing outside the driver's door. I come to a stop and study the man. He was tall and thin but the qualities made him more gangling than fit. His dark brown hair was neatly cut and styled. His face is worn in an expression of worry, yet it doesn't match with the glint in his green eyes.

"What's going on I just got here?!" he says with a squawky voice.

"Walkers got in the house! There's still a person inside; we have to help!" I say then turn back around determined to get Daryl out of there; hopefully with this guys help. I didn't care how much something about this guy made me feel uneasy, I needed to save Daryl.

"Woah, you can't go back there," I feel a bony hand pull my arm back and I'm turned back around facing him. My temper boils, annoyed that he's stopping me. "He's probably already dead."

For a second the possibility of it hits me and I'm struck with a horrible pain in my stomach at the thought of losing Daryl. He was the only one left. I can't lose him; I won't. I'm about to shrug off his hand and tell him off saying he doesn't know that, when I rethink what he said.

"How did you know it was a guy?"

He lets out a small sigh, "I wished it didn't have to happen this way." Before I can try to get away from his hold his hand tightens around my arm and pulls me back to the car. I begin hitting and kicking him with as much force as I can. I can't imagine I inflict any damage my arms and legs feel like liquid yet at the same time they feel a thousand times heavier. I feel one arm pinned behind my back, I struggle to get it free when I feel his hand clamp onto to my other my hand.

I lift my leg and shove it behind me kicking him in the groin. He lets go of me and I use the opportunity to spring back to the house. Any thought of the pain of my hurt foot completely dissipates as the adrenaline takes control of my body.

Suddenly I'm on the ground and my face is slammed into the damp grass. I try to slide away from beneath him, but I feel a fist crash into my side. I'm so distracted by the dull ache from the hit that the one second I take to absorb the pain he starts dragging me back to the car by my hair and lifts me up. With his hand still gripped around a chunk of my hair keeping me from escaping, I grab my heavy bag, which had slid down to my elbow when he dragged me, and hit him with it. I remember the knife Daryl had given me (how could I have forgotten) and pull it out. I'm just about to lunge the knife into his chest when something hits me on the back of my head so hard I feel my thoughts and body drooping into a pit of a static nothing; that's when I lose all consciousness.

* * *

I'm awake, but I keep my eyes closed. The room smells stuffy and gross that probably has mold growing somewhere, I groan annoyed. A warm hand brushes back my hair and rests on my face; a warm happy feeling starts in my stomach. I feel so safe and content a sigh escapes my lips. "Daryl," I say happily.

Something in the air tenses as I say the name. The warm hand suddenly feels more rough and angry. That's when I begin to notice the little signs I hadn't picked up on when I was half asleep. The long bony fingers and the smooth fingertips that could only be from a life that was kept indoors; I was _not_ with Daryl.

I jump back in fear opening my eyes. The man from the house sits in front of me, a slight look of worry crosses his face. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just watching you sleep. You looked very peaceful; I didn't want to wake you."

I stare at him wide eyed and silent, I look down and notice my hands tied with rope. It was real, it _was_ real. I thought it was dream.

He smiles and leans back, "I'm sorry, you're probably very confused. I'm Larry... and you're Beth, I heard your name from earlier."

Besides the sunlight streaming in through the open door, the room is dark. I look around and see a dim light coming from the left wall, it takes a while but I finally realize it's a window that's been covered with a sheet. A white shaggy dog with only one eye trots into the room and sits by Larry.

"And this little guy is Douglas I picked him up about a year ago." He stares at me expectantly, but I just sit dazed.

"My head hurts," I say. It was true any time I tried to form a coherent thought my head would just form a fuzzy mess.

"Of course," he hands me a bottle of water and two red little pills. "Here this will help."

I take the pills and swallow it down with the warm water.

"What do you want," I say as calmly as I can manage while fear creeps its way up my spine.

"I just wanted to help you. Well I also wanted to talk with you, but you made that difficult when you fought me," he says.

The fog in my head clears, "Wait, what! I need to get out of here! Where's Daryl? Get away from me!" I stand and head for the door, but something tugs my hands from going any further. That's when I notice the rope tied around my hands is connected with another strip of rope tied around a metal pole attachted to a water heater.

He stands up, "This way you won't get any more ideas about getting away."

Loud thuds and growling from walkers outside fill the silence. He points his thumb back toward the door, "I'm gonna go take care of them. Try not to make too much noise."

The dog follows him out of the room; I use the time to get a grip of my surroundings. I walk around as far as the rope allows, for the most part it seems empty until I bump into a washer and dryer. I follow the rope back to the water heater and feel the sturdy knot there. After several minutes of futile attempts to untie the intricate knots I give up and feel the pole it's tied around. I try moving the pole to see if it's loose but it doesn't budge.

A rise of panic fills me. It's okay, I'll get out of here. I _will_ get out of here. I calm myself and work on the knots around my hands using my teeth. After a little time I can start to feel the loosening of a knot, excited I work faster. Footsteps echo down the hardwood floors; I drop my hands and hide the lose knot with my fingers.

* * *

**Daryl**

The car was long gone, but I continue following the road refusing to give in. My legs feel as heavy as bricks and each step sends a pain through them from the miles of running all night. I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch, I think in my head. Rage is what continues to send one foot in front of the other. The road left no tracks of the car, but it had been a straight shot since the cemetery. I readjust my crossbow that continues to fall to the side as I run.

I look up to see the road and my heart sinks. The road forked into two different directions. If I were to pick one I could be creating an even bigger gap between us. I'm never going to find her. The reality of it crushes me; my legs become weak and unable to support my weight any longer. I collapse on to the road, as a pain inside of me grows and swells. Tears fall down my face, as I come to grips with the fact that I lost Beth. I'd never felt as alone as I did now, bein' lost in the woods, the times after Merle left when I was a kid didn't come close to how I felt now. I couldn't keep her safe. That was my job; to protect her, keep her alive. And I failed her.


	3. Mistakes

**OMG I can't beleive I finished two chapters in one day! I started writing and I just couldn't stop. Chapter 4 will hopefully be up tomorrow! As always thanks for reading and please comment! **

* * *

**Daryl**

"Get your ass in the house," Dan says as he throws the man into the living room floor. This morning they found him trying to steal some food from the packs.

The six of them crowd around him punching and kicking him. I watch from the doorway of the house.

Joe straightens up and looks at me, "See this is how we handle people who go against us." He then kicks the man on the floor again making him cry out in pain. "Everybody hold up." They all stop at Joe's command. "Give me the hatchet."

"Please no!" He screams when the hatchet crashes into his head nearly splitting it in two. Joe laughs satisfied and wibes off the blood that splatterred on him. "Alright, let's see what we can find here," he says.

Roland, an average looking guy with no standing out features besides a black bandana, heads upstairs. I head into the kitchen and check the cabinets looking for food.

"Yo Daryl, you find anythin," O'Neil calls from the living room after a time of searching endlessly with no results.

"I aint seen shit in here," I yell back from the kitchen.

"Screw this shit," he says and heads up the stairs with Clint, an older guy with a beer gut and a bald spot.

I didn't trust any of them, for a fact every single one of them would kill me in an instant especially O'Neil, who had tried to claim my vest and would send random glares my way. When I was sitting out in the road it was a join or die situation. Why I was still here I wasn't sure.

I walk back into the living room and the body in the center gets my attention. He had been begging for his life and they killed him. If Merle and I had found this group when all this first went down, I wonder if I would've ended up like them.

"Where'd you get that bow?" Joe asks me.

"My dad's," I say.

"A gift?"

"Nah, just took it to piss him off."

Joe laughs, "Yep something like that oughta do it."

Dan picks up a tennis ball from of the floor and bounces it, "I'm gonna see what their doin upstairs."

"Woah, jackpot," Joe says, "found a woman's shirt. It's still warm." He brings the purple fabris to his nose. "Smells good too."

Billy walks back into the room, "I've got dibs when she gets back." They continue talking about the woman's shirt, but I stop listening and head back to the kitchen.

I pull out a kitchen chair and sit down. I can't stay with these guys. I made a mistake coming with them. If I were to find Beth, Michonne, Maggie or anyone from the group I know exactly what kind of things these guys would do. I would kill them now if they didn't have the numbers on me. I think of Beth, I need to find her, but how? Where would I even begin to search for her? First I would need to get away from these guys. Her words come back me, "There's still good people out there" I wished it was true and for a second I had believed it.

My thoughts are interrupted from screams and gunshots, I run out of the kitchen at the same time Joe comes running back inside. We head up the stairs as O'Niel, Dan, and Roland come back down stairs.

"What happened," Joe asks.

"Clint turned killed Billy," O'Niel says.

"Some guy was under the bed, he killed Clint," Roland says.

"Why didn't you say somethin' earlier asshole," O' Neil says to him.

"You knocked me out dipshit. You do it again and I'll kill you," Roland says.

"Hey, shut the hell up," Joe says. "Let's find this guy."

They'd given up searching after looking through the house and not finding anyone. We continued traveling along the road, they hoped they'd come across whoever did it.

"Hey check it out, a house up ahead. There's a car too, good cause I'm gettin' tired of walking," O'Neil says.

I lift my head up and see the house, but the car is what gets my attention…

It was the same one that was at the cemetery.

* * *

**Beth**

"I have to go to the bathroom," I lie.

Larry sighs pulling out a knife and heads over to the water heater. He cuts the rope close to the knot and holds the rope in his hand. "Go to the front door," he says. I comply like a leashed dog and stop in front of the door. He holds the door open for me and I walk through, "There's some trees and bushes over there." Douglas runs out barking and goes sniffing around. The irony of the situation didn't evade me.

I go over to where he pointed until I feel a tug when the rope runs out of room. He must have made the knot to give me less slack inside when I was inside becuase I must be 20 feet away from him, which didn't compare to the 5 feet I had in the room.I work away at the knots around my hand. I had loosened them earlier, but it was painfully slow and I didn't have much time now. I slowly start to feel the rope loosen up underneath my teeth. The rope falls from my mouth and my hands are free. I catch the rope before it can fall onto the ground.

"Hurry it up," he calls.

"Almost done," I say.

I tie the rope around a thin branch that is nearly the same height as my hands so that he won't feel change in the tension of the rope.

I stare back trying to make sure he doesn't see me, and then I run for it. I sprint past the trees and hear nothing from behind me. I might actually have a chance to get away! Elation takes over any pain of my ankle.

But then I hear Douglas barking. I can hear him chasing after me; the dog's prey drive triggered by me running.

"Damn it," I hear Larry scream enraged.

I run faster and faster until I hear a loud snap and fall down. I look at my foot and notice that it is bent in an impossible way. It's definitely broken now. I hold back crying out in pain and squeeze my hands into fists. Douglas catches up to me, energetic he jumps around me back and forth trying to get me to chase and occasionally leaping forward to lick my face.

I doubt I can walk on my leg, so I crawl and hide behind a tree. Douglas keeps jumping around me; if he keeps this up larry will find me immediately. I grab the dog and hold him in my lap, despite his energy he seems content being held and doesn't fight it.

Behind me I hear the crunch of leaves and twigs snapping. The footsteps pass the tree, but then stop. He's quiet probably listening; I try to calm my breathing but between the suspense and running I can't. I try breathing through my nose, but it sounds even louder.

"Beth," he says in a bitter sweet voice.

"Come out. I'm not mad. I will be if you make me wait." My heart pounds so loudly in my chest, I'm surprised he doesn't hear it.

"Douglas, Douglas," he calls in a happy voice. At the sound of his voice the dog happily pounces out of my lap and runs to him. As quietly as I can I try to crawl away from the tree.

But I'm too late, "Oh, Beth. Don't be this way." I can feel his eyes on my back, but I continue to crawl away. He kicks my back and I fall onto my stomach. He takes the rope and ties my hands behind my back. He grabs my arm and makes me rise to my knees.

"You made a mistake," he says staring me in the eyes.

Fed up with him I shake my head and hiss at him, "No, when Daryl finds you and the rest of our group finds you. They'll kill you. You're the one who made a mistake."

He glares at me and I stare right back at him not letting up. He kicks my stomach knocking the air out of my lungs and I land on my back gasping for breath. I feel a smooth piece of glass beneath my hand; I run my fingertips over the sharp pointed edge. I grab the piece of glass and hold it between my hands.

He brings me to my feet and I wail in pain when I rest weight on my broken foot. The pain makes me grip the glass tighter in my hand and it begins cutting into my skin.

"Oh come on," he says and pulls me back to the house with him. I try setting as much weight on him whenever I have to step on the broken foot, but still a flood of pain makes my face scrunch in pain and a small whimper escapes me.

* * *

**Daryl**

"Still warm," Joe says after resting his hand on the hood of the car. I look at the back of the car and sure enough the cross is plastered on the back window.

I load an arrow in my crossbow, "Imma take the lead on this one."

Joe points his hand at the front door, "After you." I get my crossbow ready in my arms with it aimed just below the waist. I walk towards the door anticipation rising. What if she's dead? I raise my crossbow level and kick the door in. If she's dead, then someone's gonna pay.


	4. Be Good

**Yes, I was able to finish chapter 4! I don't think chapter 5 will be up till around Thursday or Friday since I have school. Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoy, and remember to comment! Special thanks to my original followers and my new followers: koty70, 1amsam, CMitchell, Lamia86, dinosandkeane, and Bethylfanatic!**

**Daryl**

The door busts open, I scan the room left to right; nothing. I look down noticing the blood trailing through the house. The blood is smeared along the sides of the hallway, and large drops of blood along the floor. I hear the others walk through the door; they can't find her first.

"Looks like somethn' went down," one of them comments on the blood.

I rest my fingers against the blood on the wall and examine it rubbing the wet blood between my fingertips. It's fresh.

I follow the trail into a laundry room. I walk over to a small window and rip off a sheet that had been put up. Rope dangles loosely from where it's tied around a pole connected to a water heater. The end of the rope is frayed and is soaked with blood, beneath the rope a puddle of deep red blood covers the floor. I look back to the door and notice that the blood trail follows another direction further down the hall.

The closer I get to the room the blood leads, the louder I hear gasping, the sound someone makes when they're fighting for their last breath. I follow the sound into the bathroom. A body bloodied and hanging on to the last bit of life lies on the tile floor.

* * *

**Beth: One Hour Earlier**

This time I have no slack to move around; all I can do is sit with my legs stretched out with my arms tied behind my back. I work at the rope that's tied to the pole; the rope rip beneath my fingertips until it's the last bits left.

I hear the front door of the house open and for a moment I freeze. I hurry and continue to cut the rope, cursing myself for wasting the time I took to pause. He stands at the doorway to the room, "Hey, I just got back from a run. I have some food for you," he says holding up a black bag.

Finally I sever the rope connecting me to the pole. I turn the glass around in my hand and begin slicing at the knots tying my hands together. I feel warm blood slide down to my fingertips and drip onto the floor.  
"Good I'm hungry," I lie to him.

He sits down on the floor beside me and takes out food from the bag. He pulls some jam out and gives it to Douglas, who laps it up hungrily. "What did you want to eat?"  
"I'm fine with anythin," I say, if I can keep him cool and calm long enough I might be able to get out.

For a moment I panic thinking he's going to try to untie me so I can eat, but he opens up a bag of chips and feeds them to me.

"I wanted to apologize about earlier. I just get so crazy when I'm around you and the thought of you leaving it…it just drives me insane," he says.

I nod my head, not sure how to respond to that.

"I heard what you said. At the cemetery, you understood why I would bury the dead; why I made them look human again. You understand me and I'm not leaving that up to coincidence. Us findin' each other, that was fate ."

" Wait...How did you hear me?"

"I was in the attic when you guys first showed, I left when you went to bed. I also heard you singin'. You have a beautiful voice. You could've been famous." I feel exposed at the thought of him being in the house when I didn't know he was there.

"Could you sing to me?"

I freeze uncomfortable with the request. "What?"

"That song you were singing before. Sing it." This time his voice takes on a stern tone, making it more of a demand than a request. I think of the lyrics in my head, my mind overloaded with thoughts as I struggle to cut through the knots.

"It's uncl-" I stop when my voice breaks,

"It's unclear now, what we intend  
We're alone in our own world  
You don't wanna be my boyfriend  
And I don't wanna be your girl  
And that, that's a relief  
We'll drink up our grief  
And pine for summer  
And we'll buy beer to shotgun  
And we'll lay in the lawn  
And we'll be good"

I feel the knots with my fingers, Half of the knots are cut.

"Now I'm laughing at my boredom  
At my string of failed attempts  
Because you think that it's important  
And I welcome the sentiment"

He rests his head on my lap making me freeze, I continue singing with a tight voice.

"And we talk on the phone at night  
Until it's daylight  
And I feel clever  
And I hear the slow in your speech  
Yeah you're half asleep  
Say goodnight"

I hold back a sharp intake of breath when the glass cuts deep into my skin again

"Now I've got friendships to mend  
I'm selfishly dispossessed  
You don't wanna be my boyfriend  
And that's probably for the best  
Because that, that gets messy  
And you will hurt me  
Or I'll disappear"

The rope holding my hands slowly starts to loosen but not enough for my hands to get out.

"So we will drink beer all day  
And our guards will give way  
And we'll be good"

He looks up at me while I finish the last verse. He sits back up, "That was beautiful."

Then his lips are on mine, I try pulling back but he puts his hand behind my head forcing my head to stay. I work away at the rope faster. He kisses my jaw and down my neck then back up again. My heart races and I feel like I'm about to throw up.

He starts unbuttoning my shirt and his lips follow the trail. The rope becomes thinner and thinner.

Three buttons are undone revealing my bra. The knot begins to budge giving me more room for my hands to reach the knots higher up.

Four buttons. I can feel the last knot and I begin shredding through it. Back and forth; back and forth.

Five buttons. I can almost feel the freedom beneath my finger tips as I cut through the last bits of rope.

Six buttons. I free my arms and with the glass in my right hand I drive the shard into the side of his throat.

Once. Twice. Three times I jam the glass into his neck and pull it back out. Huge amounts of warm red blood spurts out of his neck. I feel the blood land on my clothes and skin tainting it red.

Douglas growls, he lunges forward and I feel sharp teeth plunge into my hand making me drop the glass. I feel my skin open up and the blood pour down my hand. I kick the dog away, making him whimper and back away.

I stand up and try hopping away holding onto the walls for support, painting them red. I'm almost to the door when I feel something grab my good leg, unable to support my weight on the other one, I fall down my face smashing into the floor. I'm flipped over onto my back and I see him, with one hand to his neck that still has blood pouring out of it and the other with a death grip on my leg. He drags me down the hall, I try yanking my leg back and trying to kick him, but it doesn't stop him. It doesn't even slow him down.

He pulls me into the bathroom and I notice a pistol on the counter when he reaches it for it he loosens the grip on my leg, I use the opportunity and kick him making him land on the floor.

The gun flies from his hand into the bathtub behind him, he turns around reaching for it I take the rope that's still wrapped around my hand and wrap it around his neck tightening it. He panics struggling to breathe, he tries standing to shake me off, but I grip the rope tighter blocking the air from reaching his lungs. He stands in front of the mirror leaning over the bathroom counter; I keep my hands behind his neck clutching the rope.

My eyes glance at the mirror for just a second, shocked at what I saw. I look back at the mirror, confused as I study the scene before me. I was killing him and yet I didn't stop. And I didn't like one bit of it. I see the panic in his eyes as he stares back at me in the mirror. No thought seems to pass his mind besides the natural need to breathe, to survive.

He tries to shake me off again, but I tighten my grip. Slowly the fire inside him that kept the fight going starts to fade. At first it dies down to a small flame; he stops trying to shake me off, then his hands stop flailing around, and his eyes start to look more glazed then panicked. Then the flame goes out as his eyes close and his body goes limp.

I button up my shirt then using the wall to support my weight I hop out of the bathroom.

* * *

**Daryl**

The man reaches for the gun by his leg.

"Hell no," I growl and send an arrow into the back of his hand making him cry out in pain.

I walk over kicking the gun away and crouch in front of him, "Where's Beth?"

He looks at me with a blank expression. I pull the arrow out of his hand and he winces in pain.

"You hear me. You better start talking boy," I growl.

"I don't know where she went," he says then goes off on a coughing fit.

"That aint good enough. What else you know."

"How about the way her lips tasted. Or the way she would sigh my name."

My eyes widen enraged. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and punch him over and over, until my knuckles start bleeding. When I stop, his head rolls back unconscious, I drop his body and his head slams on the tub. I stand and kick him, "Asshole."

I leave the bathroom and head back into the hall, when I see the blood trail continue all the way to the backdoor.

"Imma go for a walk," I shout back to the guys.

"Whatever," I hear one of them shout back.

Outside I track her trail. At first it's all over the place from one side to another, but after a while it starts to only head in one direction; the woods. I follow the direction she went passing trees, and bushes. First I see a walkers dead body on the ground with it's insides torn up and blood everywhere. Then other trails start coming in from the sides, soon I see dozens of trails around hers until I can't tell them apart from hers.

I look back up and see the walkers, slowly trudging along oblivious to the fact that I'm behind them. One in the back with a limb and blonde hair, catches my eye.

"Beth," I shout. All of them turn back around and stare at me, but the only one I notice is Beth.

* * *

**Beth**

"Beth!" I hear a shout behind me. I use the long, branch I found to help me walk and turn around. Daryl.

I start hopping over to him, but then I remember the walkers that I had been surrounded by. Their attention turns to me and they start closing in on me. An arrow goes through the skull of the walker closest to me then I catch a glimpse of Daryl running over to me. I use the stick to hit the ones that get to close, making them fall over to bide time. We kill them all; Daryl uses his knife to drive the it into their brain and I use the stick to knock them down then ram it into their head.

I start to lose my balance and am about to fall when I feel strong hands clamp around my arms keeping me steady. I turn around and hug him, to my surprise, he hugs me back tightly. Almost too tight but I wasn't going to say anything about it.

"I missed you," he says.

"Me too," I say back.

I lean back and for just a second, kiss him; it's really more of a touch of the lips than a kiss but still. For a second it's slightly awkward, but I don't regret it.

He puts his hand behind his neck, the action makes him younger and shy, "We should get you out of here."

I nod my head and shrug of the coat and gloves that I had used to put a walkers blood on me that the rest wouldn't notice me.

He looks at the walking stick, "Can you walk?"

I shake my head, "It's broken." Then I point to my ankle. He nods then picks me up. I wrap an arm around his neck to hold on.

**If you're curious why the title is Be Good. It's the name of the song Beth sings by Waxahatchee. Which is the one she sings in "alone".**


	5. First Kill

**Hey episode 14 was _crazy._ Chapter 5! WOW! It's up a lot sooner than I thought, it's slightly slow in the beginning but I think it makes up for it at the end. Thank you to all my followers and readers! Shout-out to my new followers: rileymichele19, georgiapeachs, avasmom28681, Anjelik, JCSwriter, MaverickJack1013, DionyGermanottadDeep, and Lady-Isowen!**

* * *

**Beth**

We don't get very far when he sets me back down on the ground. I sit down on the dirt with my feet stretched out.

"Lemme' see your foot," he says. I had noticed him glancing down at my foot while he was carrying me.

I extend my foot for him to see. He crouches down and examines my foot. I can tell he's trying to be gentle but I wince and take in a sharp intake of air when he pulls the shoe off.

"Sorry," he says sincerely.

"I just wish we hadn't burned all the alcohol," I say thinking back to the clouded, happy feeling it gave me.

He chuckles, but his face looks tense and focused. I look down to see huge purple and green bruises along my foot, swollen to the size of a large tangerine on the outer part of my foot, and bent unnaturally.

"I shouldn't have looked down," I say panic edging my voice. The pain that pulsed through my foot had never stopped since I first broke it, but now with no immediate threat and the disgusting sight of it seemed to make it hurt even more.

He reaches for the small bag I had brought with me and dumps out the contents; mostly pain killers and food. He scavenges through all of it, reading labels and suggested amounts.

He sets pills in one of my hands and water in the other. He leans back and sighs, a worried look on his face.

"I had never killed a person before," I say. "Well maybe I did, at the prison firing back, maybe I killed someone maybe I didn't," I shrug. Remembering the look in his eyes as I slowly strangled him. I didn't regret it and if I had to do it again I would, yet something didn't feel right.

"He wasn't dead. Just nearly dead," Daryl says looking up at me. I'm not sure if it makes me feel better or worse.

Shouts all the way back from the house reach us, "Yo Daryl. You out here?"

I jump at the sound. "You're with people? Could they help," I ask confused

"Not those kinds of people," he says his voice slightly hinting at shame.

"Yeah, I'm here," he shouts back.

He stuffs the items back in the bag then lifts me back into his arms. He carries me to a large tree with branches as low as six feet.

"Think you can climb," he asks.

"Where are you going," I ask ignoring his question.

"They have the meds you need."

"Why can't we just leave? We could find what we need on the road," I argue.

He ignores my protest and lifts me up high enough for me to get my arms around the lowest branch. I climb onto it and sit down, my back against the tree.

He holds up my bag for me then pauses. "Take this too," he says then hands me a pistol.

I shake my head, "You'll need it."

"Just take it," he says then tosses it onto my lap.

* * *

**Daryl**

The sun rests on the Earth's horizon tainting the west sky orange. I walk past the last few trees, I can see a small fire crackling close to the house. The four men sit circled around the fire eating a chewy meat off a stick.

"Thought you might've become some dead fool's meal," Joe says, although his nonchalant attitude seems the last bit ruffled.

Joe lifts up a stick with a hunk of meat on it, "Dog?"

I take the stick and sit down between Joe and Dan . Roland and O'Neil sit across the fire. I sink my teeth into the rubbery meat, while O'Neil stares at me annoyance obvious on his face.

"You do a real shit job at killing people," he says trying to bait me for a fight. I stare at him numbly and take another bite. He tries again, "Some guy in the bathroom, we took care of him. You aint gonna fit in good with a soft side."

I shrug my shoulders not taking the bait to argue with him.

"Gonna camp here for the night. We're rollin in the mornin," Joe says intervening.

"I'll take first watch," I say trying not to sound too eager. The sooner I got back to Beth the better. I already felt anxious having to be away from her.

It takes hours but finally I hear the breathing in the room start to regulate as it does when a person is asleep.

I stroll back into the bathroom to find the man had been shot in the head. It was too good a death for him. The possibilities of what he could've done to Beth wonder into my head and I'm filled with a rage. I check his pockets and pull out the knife I had given Beth.

The house is pitch black as I walk back into the living room, they had left the bags on the ground near the front door. I unzip the one with the first aid kit supplies and stash what I need for Beth into a backpack. Quietly I slip out the back door without anyone noticing.

* * *

**Beth**

The pain in my leg had gotten more intense as I sat their bored waiting for Daryl to come back. How long is he gonna take? When the sun goes down and the moon is the only light, I start to get worried. What if they killed him? What if he's lost? I stop, _Daryl_ _lost_ in the _woods_; well maybe not that. My mind continues with a list of all the things that could've gone wrong.

I hear groans come from below. I look down the tree and see two walkers below, their hands outstretched reaching for me. It's nothing I would have to be too worried about unless they attracted more walkers. I start to feel fingers grasp at my leg; I mean to only move slightly so that the tall one couldn't grab hold of me when I fall off the other side of the tree.

I land on my side making my foot ache in pain. The walkers follow me to where I fell, I kick the one that gets closest to me, it falls backward clumsily. The other one grabs my foot and tries to pull it to their mouth when an arrow flies through their head. The walker lands on top of me; I push the dead walker off of me as I see the other walker fall down to the ground. Daryl's knife glistening red in the moonlight.

He sets his crossbow down so he can help pull me up onto my good foot, "Thought I told you to stay in the tree."

I slap away his hand, "You ass, I thought something happened to you."

He lifts up the bag of medicine and says sarcastically, "Got your supplies. Glad you're thankful though."

"Won't they come lookin for you," I ask.

"Let me worry about that."

"Don't patronize me. I think I've gone through enough to put up with that crap."

He takes a step closer to me, deep in thought.

He looks down at me, "You're wrong you know. About you not being strong like Maggie, Michonne, or Carol. You're wrong about that. I don't think you're weak and I don't mean to patronize you."

I stare up at him, as he stares down at me, neither of us moving. I think back to when we were at the table in the house when he was staring at me. He didn't say it, but I knew what he meant; I changed his mind about there being good people out there, but what did that even me. It didn't expose any feelings, he could think of me as a sister for all that means. Yet something about the way he looked at me made me feel it was something more.

And I had that feeling now as he looked into my eyes.

I feel his hand on the side of my neck; he slowly pulls me closer until I feel his other hand on the side of my face. He lowers his head until his lips are on mine. At first I'm too shocked to know what to do. He had opened up to me earlier yet any time he revealed a side of emotion or just showed that he gave a crap it still surprised me.

I kiss him back, moving my lips with his. I feel his hands slide down to my waist and he lifts me up, his arms wrapping around my back, relieving my foot of having to bear all my weight. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he slowly walks forward with me in his arms. I feel the tree behind my back that he uses to gently push me against. That was the thing, his exterior was rough from his calloused hands to his hard as nails demeanor, but his movements were so gentle.

My heart races so loudly, I'm surprised he doesn't hear it. He puts one hand behind my lower back pulling me closer, the other he rests behind my head running it through my hair and holding me closer. He pulls back for a second and for the first time I notice how loudly we're breathing, he rests his forehead to mine and for a moment it's just the sound of us trying to catch our breath. He lifts up my chin as he leans back down and kisses me for a second time.

A twig snaps behind us, "Looks like somebody found a little treat."

* * *

**Daryl**

I whip around to face the person behind us. O'Neil. My eyes focus on him watching his every movement.

"Good looking one at that too," as he says it he leans to his side so he can get a better look of Beth behind me. Protectively I step in front of his view of her. My eyes glance at the crossbow a few feet from me still on the ground. He had me backed into a corner and he knew it.

"This aint none of your concern, O'Neil," I growl at him.

"Hey now, Joe doesn't need to know. I get it; you don't want to share with the group. If you let me get in on this, I won't tell him," as he says it he licks his lips looking at Beth.

Again I move in front of her so he can't see her. My body tenses enraged and ready for a fight. I glare at him, sickened by what he was suggesting. I wanted nothing more than to kill him.

He starts reaching for an arrow and I use this as my chance. I run forward tackling him onto the ground. I grab the bow and throw it to the side. I punch him repeatedly and knock away his attempted blocks. I feel my knuckles start to bleed from where they had bled from earlier. He gets in a few punches knocking me off of him and pulls out a knife, he slashes out and gets my arm. I wince and punch him him again, but now he's on top of me the blade pointed down towards my throat. I hold the blade back from stabbing me at a standstill.

An arrow flies into his head, he goes limb and falls on top of me. Blood from his head wound pours on to me. I roll him off of me and stare at Beth, the crossbow clutched tightly in her hands and still aimed. I stand up and go over to her. "You okay?"

She nods her head, loosening her grip on the crossbow and looks at my arm where the knife had cut me.

"I'm fine. Come on, we gotta go."

**RIP DOUGLAS- To some he was a cute one-eyed dog and to others he was a meal. Gone but not forgotten.**


	6. What I know

**Sorry for the wait, crazy busy week with homework and stuff. This is pretty much a fluff chapter, but if you're a person who likes a bit more action, I'll definitely be adding more of that soon. Anyways hope you enjoy and please comment. If you've read my other story please tell me which one you like better. Shout-out to my new followers: Ikna83, soulfly213, mo111, Bad Ass Blye, brandyo123, and SPEEDIE22. And Thanks to all of my original followers!**

"Think it was him," Dan asks. In the grey light of morning the forest was alive with birds and insects but the body the three men circled around was dead. O'Neil.

"Who else," Joe says a vicious anger resonating inside of him. He clenches his gun tighter inside of his hand, _That son of a bitch._

"You can tell it was an arrow came through, here then was pulled back out." Roland says pointing to the head wound.

"How much is gone," Joe asks.

"Most of our meds," Dan says to him.

A snarl slowly starts to form on his face, "He's gonna regret this." He glares at the rest of them, "Lets go."

* * *

**Beth**

"Whatcha think," Daryl asks me while I rest in his arms. I stare up at the house he directed my attention at. It was small, white, with vines growing all around it; yet had a comfortable quaintness that looked like somewhere writers would stay when they needed inspiration.

"Do you think it's safe? To stay in one place for too long," I ask thinking back to the one man from the group Daryl had been with, O'Neil, that had caught us. If they were just as bad as him, as Daryl said they were then we really didn't want them to find us.

"Won't stay long. I'm gettin tired of carrying you around," he says teasing.

"I can walk with a stick," I say and lift the stick that I carried in case I would have to get around somewhere without him. At first I had objected to him carrying me, but he didn't really give me an option.

"Yeah and watch while you slug around like a snail," he says. I was fairly slow with the stick; rocks, uneven trees, and obstacles you had to step over made it difficult to get far.

He carries me up the porch steps, then sets me down so he can open the door. He opens it up and whistles loudly to attract any walkers out before we walk in blindly. He holds his crossbow aimed as he walks in, doing a quick look into the house, as I wait outside.

"Ight, come here," he says slinging his crossbow behind his back and reaches his hands out so he can lift me up.

I rush past him with my stick so he couldn't grab me, "Told ya I could get by fine."

It wasn't as messy as most places that had ripped furniture and random belongings strewn about, but it was dusty enough you could tell no one had been there for a long time. The kitchen and front room are attached and I only see two other doors in the back. I hop over to the one that leads to the bathroom.

I open up the closet door wanting to find something to change into so I didn't have to wear the blood soaked clothes on me now. I pull out a hot pink frilly shirt and swing it in front of Daryl, "We're in luck; they have your color."

He looks at me an amused look on his face, "Do you think the ruffles would work with the crossbow." I laugh so much it almost hurts. He kept his voice and face in its usual serious demeanor, when he said it, making it more ridiculous.

He stares at me, with a look that obviously questioned my humor.

"Don't care what you say, but it really was that funny," I say.

I pull out the clothes I'm going to change into, "I think these will fit," I say as I back out of the closet. I stare at him with the clothes in my arm expecting him to leave.

"Can I have some privacy," I say when he doesn't get the cue to go.

"Yeah," he starts walking out of the room but then pauses, "I uh wasn't expecting for me to stand there while you change. I was just thinking," he says his voice sounding awkward. He tries explaining but ends up making things sound worse as he tries. "Whatever," he says giving up. It didn't seem natural; him out of his comfort zone. I think back to the kiss, he hadn't brought it up or made a move since it happened last night.

* * *

**Daryl**

I wrap her foot in gauze and make a splint out of a pillow and some hand towels.

"Thanks," she says from her resting spot on the couch.

"It aint much, but it'll do for now," I say then sit down on the floor next to the couch while she takes painkillers. "I'd say the best thing to do is find the group, but for now I'm goin huntin. There aint no food in the kitchen," I stand and put the crossbow strap around my shoulder.

"I'll go with you," she says, trying to stand.

I push her shoulders back down on to the couch, "Nah, you gotta rest. Keep your leg up, it'll help the swellin."

I hand her the gun, "I'll be within hearing distance, you holler if you hear anythin. Stay here."

I don't like leavin her, but we need to eat. The wind sends a cool chill in the air outside. We can't be on the road for long, with winter just a few months away.

I think back to the kiss in the woods. What the hell was I thinkin? I was suppose to keep her alive, nothing else. I already fucked up when that asshole took her, makin things complicated aren't gonna help.

I'd never had someone depend solely on me and I never felt so dependent on another. I feel like a have a destination, a purpose with her with me. Not just some cutthroat asshole tryin to survive in the apocalypse.

I take my mind off the complications and focus on the hunt after I notice a few squirrels that had gotten past me while I was thinking.

I pull the arrow out of the rabbit's skull and stash it with the others. I head back to the house when I become a little anxious from being too far from Beth. It was a good thing that she hadn't called me, yet I still worry that her silence might mark something worse.

I open up the door of the house, "Yo Beth." I wait for her response but it stays silent. From the doorway I look around the connected living room and kitchen; not there. I look in front of the couch; not there. "Beth, you in here," I say checking the only room in the back; not there.

I feel my heart slowly start to sink. Not again. I couldn't handle losing her again, not when I just got her back.

My heart races worried as I rush outside, "Beth!"

I look around and see a trail left behind by someone who had walked through with about as much grace as a baby calf. It could be a walker, but I follow the trail to the back of the house.

At a shed nearly twenty feet from the back of the house I see a walker lunge for Beth. An arrow rams through the back of its head. For a second Beth looks confused, but when she sees me lowering the crossbow, a look of understanding crosses her face. I feel anger rush through me as I cross the distance between us.

* * *

**Beth**

"I was able to take care of the walker myself," I say it before I notice the pissed off look on his face.

"Yeah I bet you could've," He growls.

"I-," he cuts me off before I can continue.

"Yeah you can hear me. Then tell me what the hell you find so confusin when I told you to stay in the house!" He goes off enraged.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to help,"

"You wanta help, try doin what I tell you! Damn it girl, I'm tryin to keep you alive! Didn't think you'd take that as a challenge! Hear you are out here tryin to get snatched up again!" He throws his arms up as he yells.

I embrace the anger that rolls off of him as it flows through me. Is he blaming me for getting kidnapped? I clench my jaw until my teeth feel sore from being so tense.

"Screw you! You don't get it. If you think getting kidnapped was my fault, then I don't know you as well as I thought I did."

I try to walk around him with my stick, but his hand roughly wraps around my arm pulling me with him, "Just come on." At first he tries to drag me back, but I start to trip as I resist the urge to put my weight on my broken foot. He catches me before I can fall and throws me over his shoulder rigidly. He carries me back to the house kicking the door to the bedroom door open and tosses me onto the bed. He stands there, for a moment just staring at me and breathing heavily. It looks like he starts to calm down slightly when he stalks off.

I roll off the bed and land on my good foot. Using the bed and wall's support I hop out of the room. From the hallway I watch as Daryl sits on the floor, his back to the couch while he pulls out the game he caught and starts skinning it.

I sigh and hop over to him. "There are fishing rods in the shed. I think I saw a lake behind the house too," I say as I sit next him to resting my back against the couch.

He doesn't say anything to me, he just sits there working his knife through the dead animal.

I try again, "I used to go fishing. It's nice when you're sittin there under the blue sky waitin for a bite. Did you fish?"

"Yeah, just aint that good at it," he says his voice still slightly angered.

"I don't believe that," I say shocked.

"Believe it," he says.

"Fishin is right up your alley of things you're good at," I say.

He shrugs, not offering anymore on the topic.

"Maybe we could go fishin, before we leave," I say.

Again he shrugs blowing off what I say.

"Cut the crap, what the hell is wrong with you," I say tired of beating around the bush.

"I told you to stay in the house," he says agitated.

He's about to say more when I cut him off, "So what? I walked 15 feet from where you told me to, and I was fine."

"You think I knew that when I walk in here and find you gone," he yells slamming his knife into the coffee table in front of us. "I thought you were hurt, or taken. You think I like feelin like I can't protect you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The guy that took you. I don't blame you for that; I was taking care of you, that was on me. It was my job to keep you safe and it still is."

I hadn't considered how me being kidnapped may have made him feel.

He chuckles darkly, "You made it out on your own, while I was off with that group. You don't even need me."

"What happened isn't your fault."

He's quiet, but doesn't seem to take in what I say.

He turns to face me, "I don't know if that's true; hell I don't know if we'll ever find the rest of the group. I don't want to lose you again, that's what I know."


	7. In the Still Waters

**Chapter 7 and 8 was originally going to be one chapter with some parts taken out, but I decided to have 2 seperate chapters instead of 1 huge chapter, so this one might seem slightly uneventless, but chapter 8 will be up tomorrow or later today. Please comment! Shout out and thanks to my original and new followers: PreciousPirate, ruger33, ozcannaz, tammiss123, .FallingUp, torikirby89, bleasimmons, and tasha rumgay.**

"Hey boss, we got company." The man says as he opens up the door to the office. He was tall, lean, and athletic what you would expect to find from most considering it was the end of the world. His dark brown hair was shaved, but there was slightly enough left to see the color. The style made him look like a marine although that was far from the job had before.

"Right, almost done checking inventory. Did you bring them in," the man asks from behind his desk with a stack of papers that kept track of residents and supplies. At 24 he was much younger than the man at the door, it was always a surprise to people when they learned he was the leader. He never had come across another group with as young a leader as him and he was proud of the entitlement. "Yes."

"Good have them settle in. I'll be done soon." The older man begins to walk out when the man behind the desk speaks again. "Who's there leader?" He asks curiously, if he was going to meet them he wanted to know immediately which one was in charge.

"Rick."

* * *

**Daryl**

I slowly start to pull back from the bed careful not to wake Beth. It was cold, so sleeping in the same bed seemed platonic, but it felt a whole lot different. I had slept straight with one arm underneath her head and the other holding her hand that had found its way across my chest. Slowly I sit up and take her hand setting it on the bed, then try to slip my arm out from beneath her head the more difficult task of the two. I think I woke her when she makes a little groan, but she rolls over facing the other side of the bed.

I tiptoe to the kitchen and pull out the left-over cooked meat from the day before and whatever canned food we had picked up. I turn on the gas stove and throw a match in it starting the fire, to warm up the meat

Outside with a bucket and my crossbow I head for the lake Beth had mentioned. I keep my ears open for Beth and walkers. The lake was fairly large and had a calming stillness to it. In the shallow water not 20 feet from where I stand a fish swims by.

* * *

**Beth**

I lean back in the small wooden canoe as it bobs back and forth in the middle of the lake with the fishing pole held lightly in my hand. My voice is the only sound that accompanies the chirps of birds and the buzz of insects. The sun felt good as it kissed my skin and was joined with the breeze that would cool me off and shake the trees. For a moment when I looked at the blue sky reflected off of the water I could almost forget that everyone I knew and loved was gone and replaced with walking corpses; almost.

"That I should rise and you should not.

I'll gently rise and I'll softly call."

I stop in the middle of the song I was singing and look across at Daryl who looked out of place in the calm setting. He had been staring at me but when our eyes meet his focus is back to gutting the fish I had caught, "Do you have to do that now?"

"No," he says.

"Why don't you relax," I ask as I sit up to get a better look at him.

"Why should I?"

"It's a beautiful day and it's felt like forever since I could honestly say I'm at peace," I say.

He puts his knife back and his shoulders seem to lose some of its tension. "Wanna give it a try," I ask handing him the other fishing pole. He shrugs setting up the fishing gear then tosses the hook into the water, wear it lands with a plop before sinking down.

It doesn't take long before he starts catching up with the amount I caught then starts to surpass it making me feel a little competitive.

"Bet I can catch more than you," I say sitting up to take the challenge more seriously.

"It'll go bad if we don't eat it all," he says.

"Then we'll eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Save the canned food for later," I say.

"What we betting," he asks slightly more interested in the fish swimmin in the water.

"Bragging rights," I say.

He stares at me, "Boring, but it'll do."

"You got a better idea."

He stares me in the eyes for a moment too long and awkwardness passes between us. A little too late to make it seem normal he looks away saying, "Your suggestions good."

"What number are we reaching for," he asks.

I count the fish we already caught, "We have nine already. First to seven?"

"Sounds good to me."

It's hard to be competitive with something that required more patience than anything else. By the time I've caught four, he's only at two.

"I'm winning," I say trying to bug him.

"We'll see," he says nonchalantly.

After a while I notice less and less bites on my side; it doesn't take long for him to catch up. The heat from the sun becomes an annoyance as I start to lose, while he catches his sixth fish and I'm stuck on the fifth.

He starts rolling up the seventh fish, as I throw my pole onto the boat annoyed. He smiles at my anger of loosing.

"What," I ask.

He shrugs, "Didn't take you as a sore loser."

"You lied, you said you weren't any good at fishin," I say impressed.

"You're the one that lied. You said you were good at it." He says slightly smug, yet still teasing. "This aint nothing compared to Merle or my dad. Hell that was the only time I saw them do anythin together," he says deep in thought.

A long silence starts to drift between us. To some, his demeanor seemed nonchalant or careless, but I caught the hurt look on his face. Maybe the reminder that Merle was gone, maybe that his father was gone too; I didn't know much about the relationship with his father. I feel the need to make things feel less tense, but I'm not sure how.

"What's that," I say pointing back to the cabin. He stands up alert with his crossbow and looks where I pointed. I act immediately shoving him into the water. He lands and a huge splash sloshes water into the boat.

"What the hell was that," he yells angry.

I can't help but laugh, "You fell for the oldest trick!"

Irritation still covered his face, but there was a shimmer of enjoyment in his eyes. He throws his cross bow into the boat and holds out his hand, "Help me up."

"No! I'm not falling for that," I squeal trying to get away from his hand, knowing he'd pull me in.

"Stop being childish; I aint doin nothing," he says, but a devious smile on his face says otherwise.

I grab the paddle, and try to row it away on the other side laughing like a mad person. I know I won't get far, really I was just going in rickety circles but I'm not really trying to leave. Right now I genuinely feel elated and I wasn't about to let the feeling ago.

I finally come to a stop and let him swim close to the boat. The top half of his body jumps up into the boat and I feel his hands grab my arms and pull me into the water.

"Hey!" I yell as the water soaks my clothes. I wince as a pain shoots through my foot that had hit the side of the boat when I fell into the water.

"Are you hurt," he asks his face serious and concerned looks to mine for confirmation. His hands gripped around my shoulders.

"I'm good, just my foot," I say assuring him. Trying to lighten the mood I swipe my hand across the water splashing it on him.

* * *

I lean against the wall while he digs in the closet looking for a man's shirt he could wear. With his back to me he takes off his shirt and it falls to the ground with a smack. I feel slightly unnerved by it; I thought he would've left to change. But I can't think about it for long, when something else catches my eye.

I stare at the dark scars along his back that crosses all along his back. I'm completely lost as I try to imagine how they got there and what sort of damage could have caused that. Before I give it any thought my hand reaches out and I touch the smooth scar beneath my fingertips. He jumps as though I burned him and turns around, the shirt he was going to put on in his hand.

"How," I ask. It wasn't a straight question but by the guarded look he gives me I could tell he understood.

He gives me a harsh look that told me what he didn't have to say. He wasn't going to tell me and I shouldn't have asked. He pulls on the shirt then picks up the soaking wet one from off the floor before marching out of the room.


	8. Spill Your Guts

**Sorry about the wait, it took me so long to write this chapter, I kept on re-writing it over and over again, because I wanted it to sound right. Anyways thanks for reading and hope you enjoy! THank you to those who comment, love the feedback. Special thanks to my original followers and Shout out to my new followers: franSM, Eclypsexx, and . **

**Wasn't that a CRAZY finale, I felt bad for Carl almost being raped. It was crazy when Rick went all badass and saved them though. I always felt that people underestimated how badass Rick could be esp. when many people put characters like Daryl and Michonne on a pedestal, but I do love them too.**

* * *

**Daryl**

I sat on the top of the porch watching as the sun slowly set while I ate. It had been a hot day, but as the day slowly came to an end a cool chill rose in the air.

"I'm sorry if what I said crossed the line," she says from the doorway to the house. Hours had passed since she asked about it and I had hardly said two words to her since.

"It's fine," I say not further elaborating. I decided to stop with the silence, I probably sounded like a little bitch the way I had let it get to me. I lift my plate up offering her the cooked fish. She takes the plate and sits beside me on the porch steps.

Suddenly I notice the chill in the air and how the lighting had turned from an orange to a pale white. As I glance at the stars and moon, I feel her body scoot closer to mine and her head rests on my shoulder.

"Relax, it's cold," she says when I jump at her closeness. It didn't bother me at all, but the fact that it didn't _did_ bother me. Would she feel the same?

"You should get some sleep," I say as we gaze at the stars. She doesn't say anything, but I didn't actually want her to go anyways. So we just sit there content in a peaceful lull.

"He didn't …rape me," she says cautiously. My eyes shift back to her as soon as she says it, but her eyes stare somewhere else far off. You couldn't tell she was talkin to me until her eyes glance back at mine after she says.

"I was terrified that it would happen. It almost did, he was trying to take off my clothes when I stabbed him with a piece of glass I had found." A violent hatred boils inside me as I imagine what she says. I want to kill him; even though he's already dead I still want him to suffer.

" I don't know why I'm telling you this. I guess I just want to clarify it, even if it doesn't matter. A few days ago I was sure I was going to die." She stares at me with a small smile, "And now I've never felt more alive."

I wrap an arm around pulling her closer and she holds me tighter. I brush back the stray hairs that fall into her face.

I sigh, "The scars on my back were from my dad. He'd hit us if we pissed him off or something, but it didn't start gettin' real bad till I was 'bout nine when Merle had left. He did the same to Merle when he was young, but when Merle got older and challenged him he backed off of him and left me alone too. My ma never really knew drinking and snorting coke she was hardly conscious half the time anyways. After she died and it was just him and me, that's when things got really bad. Hell he hardly acted like he liked the woman but when she died he went to shit. Goin to bars to look for a fight and beatin me when he didn't. Merle never knew how bad it got, I never went runnin to him for protection. I thought he'd think I was pussy or something and I cared what he thought of me even though I had felt like he abandoned me."

I pause and our eyes meet as she looks up at me, "I was always very cautious 'bout people seein my back. I never took off my shirt in front of others, because of it. I forgot earlier; I seem to forget a lot of things when I'm around you." It wasn't the first time I had made a poor choice when I was with her. I look down and catch a touch of a red blush that lingered on her face.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"Aint nothin to be sorry 'bout."

"I know, but still." She pauses, "Why are you tellin me now?"

"I care about you," I say. I wanted to let her in on how I felt, but I wasn't sure how to say it.

"I care about you too," she says resting her head on my shoulder.

I feel my hand slowly slip into her soft warm hand. I stare at our connected hands; it felt good to have someone so close. I think back to before when I was more comfortable with solitude than human contact. As I feel the heat emanating from her hand, I can't imagine how I didn't always want this I thought about it, I couldn't remember having this feeling with anybody. I rarely let people as close as I let Beth in, but this… this was entirely different. It was like for the first time I finally felt like I had something; something I couldn't live without.

"Beth," I say hesitating.

"Hmm," she says contently.

"I think… that… I…love you."

* * *

**Beth**

I stiffen as soon as the words leave his mouth. Did he just say that? I pull back so that I'm facing him. His expression cautious and serious he examines me gauging my reaction; I wouldn't be surprised if my mouth was open in shock.

He continues to spill his guts, "I aint ever felt this way 'bout anyone before. It's twisted but nothing has made sense for me until after all this shit went down; I've never felt whole before and for some reason everything is clear. It's wrong, but if the end of the world means that I fall for you then I'd pick this one every time."

"What…when," I say too puzzled to form a coherent sentence. At the cemetery I had guessed he was admitting feelings toward me, but _love?_ Before then he was just him, how did things escalate so quickly? I cared about him in a way that I hadn't really considered until recently.

"When we first lost the prison, I thought we lost everyone, I thought we lost everything. But when you were with me, I felt okay if we never found'em, because I had you. It wasn't till you were gone that I'd ever felt so alone."

I sit there still shocked looking into his eyes as he confesses his love for me.

His face fell, examining the wooden patio we sat on, disappointed by reaction and mutters, "It's 'lright if you don't feel the same. Just thought you should know." I could almost feel the chagrin that rattles through him; he'd never looked so lonely before. In his mind he had worn his heart out on a sleeve and he thought I was rejecting him.

Anticipation rises inside me at what I'm about to do. I lean forward resting my forehead against his. My hand finds its way back into his again and I lace our fingers together, his fingers clasping on to mine tightly as though I might let go of him at any second. "I love you too," I breathe.

His head jerks up his eyes mixed with certain desperation and relieve that made him seem shy. "Really," he asks unsure as if he was expecting some cruel joke on my part.

I nod my head in response. The few inches between us driving me insane, unable to stand it any longer I close the distance between us lightly touching my lips to his. At first he kisses me back just as a gentle as I kissed him and a small moan escapes his lips. He grabs my shoulders pushing me back far enough so that he can study my face, "Beth…don't."

I ignore his attempts to talk and kiss him again. This time he gives up and kisses me back. At first it's soft and calm, but as the kisses deepen I can feel my heart race and my body sink closer to his. I get on top of him my legs on either side of his waist. My hands find their way behind his neck and through his hair as I pull him closer.

His arms encircle me and move down from my lower back and up to my hair leaving a trail of heat wherever he touched me. Our mouths open and our heavy breaths entwine as we kiss. A cold breeze brushes past me, making me snuggle closer to him; not that I had a problem with it.

I pulled back just slightly taking short shallow breaths, his lips travel from behind my ear down to the nape of my neck. An uncontrollable heat that starts in my stomach runs through me. He looks up at me confused when I suddenly stand up.

"Come on," I say motioning for him to stand with me. When he's level with me, I reach up and kiss him again my hands running up his chest and resting on his shoulders. His hands grip my waist and he lifts me up, my legs encircle around his torso making it easier for me to kiss him.

He carries me into the bedroom in the back of the house and sets me on the bed. The only light in the room was the moonlight that slipped in through a small window. It looked like he was gonna lie on the bed with me, when he stands up separating our lips and paces back and forth. He looks at me thoughtfully as though there's a battle raging in his head

"This aint right," he says.

"Why," I ask flustered.

"Cuz it aint."

I sit up with my legs crossed and pat the bed, "Come here." He complies sitting where I told him to, but I could still see there was something tearing at him inside. He was right and I knew that, but I wish I didn't.

"I don't know if either of us will be alive by the next sunset. I just...I just want to live in this moment, because I don't know how many more moments I'll have," I say determined.

He seems to consider what I say so I take the opportunity and kiss him again. One hand softly grips the side of my neck pulling me closer. Slowly whatever resolve he had fades as he rests his hands on my hips gently pushing my back on to the bed and leans over me. His hand is gripped around my thigh pulling me closer to his waist.

As he kisses me my fingers fumble over the buttons of his shirt. Once they're all unbuttoned I push the shirt to his shoulders trying to take it off. When he realizes what I'm doing, he leans back and takes off the shirt himself throwing it off to the side. I run my hands over his muscled stomach and chest making my stomach twist and contract with excitement.

My stomach flutters when his hands touch the bare skin of my hips above my waistband where my shirt had risen. When he doesn't do anything, I start unbuttoning my shirt.

With one of his hands he grabs both of mine holding them in place. His mouth from my lips and slides up to my ear lope biting it just so slightly sending shivers up my spine.

"What are you doin'," he asks his hot breaths against my ear.

"You're not makin' a move," I say defensive.

At this he doesn't say anything, but he lifts my arms resting my hands above my head. His other hand continues unbuttoning down my shirt; his lips gently trail down where my shirt opens up. He frees my hands from above my head so that his hand travels down the middle of my chest and down to my pants where he unbuttons my jeans. My heart is nearly jumping out of my chest it pounds so hard.

I lift my waist as he slides my jeans and underwear off of me and gently around my broken foot. My hands grip the buckle of his jeans as I feel desire take hold of me. He unbuckles his pants shrugging them down and kicking them off along with his boxers.

His lips back on mine, his hands close around my arms and he pulls me up so that neither of us are lying down; instead we're both sitting up while I straddle him. His hands slide up my arms pushing my shirt off my shoulders and throwing it aside. My hands twist behind my back and I take off my bra.

Both of us entirely revealed to the other, we moved into the other. We smelled horrible from weeks of our skin being covered in a concoction of blood, sweat, and tears, but neither of us cared. he was everywhere; I clung to him, holding on to him like a vise. His lips moved from my mouth to my jaw, down to my neck, and across my chest.

From pain to ecstasy an array of emotions run through me as our bodies move to the other's. Our heavy breaths mix with each other's both of us gaining from the other. His hands splayed across my back pulling me closer to his; my hands tangled in his hair doing the same. A flood of satisfaction fills me and I bite down on his shoulder to keep myself together. At the same he pulls me tighter to him and breathes faster.

We're both gasping for breath afterwards. Our arms still wrapped around the other, I lean my forehead against his as we both try to catch our breath. Things will never be the same between us. We both admitted our love for the other and we crossed a point that we couldn't come back from.

* * *

**So I've never written a sex scene before and I wasn't sure how it sounded, tell me what you think? Too soon? Not enough of it? Just share your thoughts. Also please tell which chapter was you favorite or least favorite and tell me what what you liked/disliked about it. This way I can improve my writing.**


	9. When Luck Runs Short

**YAAH! Chapter nine! Thank you all so much for those who have read this far into my story and for those who comment or follow! It means so much too me and the comments really help to keep me motivated about writing! Thank you to my new followers: Thepinkcoder and LittleWalflower. So I know most of these chapters are fluffy, but it's gonna start picking up more! Please comment!**

**Daryl**

My thumb traces small circles against the smooth skin of her bare arm as she sleeps peacefully. Her hands clutched the blanket close to her chest as she slept, her eyelids rapidly moved back and forth while she was lost in a dream. Her blonde hair was down and was swept back behind her shoulders. I had been awake since before the sun was up, but I didn't want to wake her and I didn't want to get up. I had gave into my desire and stayed in the bed watching her sleep.

What did I do? A part of me didn't beleive last night actually happened, I'm sure that at any second I will wake up and everything between us will be back to the way it was before. I'm filled with a certain joyfullness when I think of last night, but another part of me felt wrong about it. Hershel wouldn't have approved, I wasn't as bad a man as my brother but I wasn't a good man, the fact I knew this and still pursued her proved that. She was too good for me, she was too young for me, and she was too perfect for me. But none of that changed the fact that I had fallen for her. She wasn't a piece of meat to me; I cared about her in a way that I didn't think I could care about anyone. As pathetic and cheesy as it sounded I couldn't remember ever feeling so happy.

It was wrong…but was there anything _right_ about this world now. I loved her, I would care for her, I would die for her; maybe the age difference didn't matter.

She makes a small noise as she wakes up, distracting me from my thoughts, stretching her arms as her eyes flutter open. "Hey," she says grinning at me; just like that all of my worries are gone and I forget what I was about to say as I stare at her mesmerized. I catch her hand in mine and hold it protectively.

"Hey," I say not exactly sure of what else to say. With my other hand I go back to rubbing her arm, feeling her soft skin beneath my rough fingertips. She leans forward and kisses me. Her soft lips move beneath mine, she scoots closer to me and her breathing quickens. My heart pounds and I feel every thought and worry slowly slip my mind.

She pulls back slightly wrapping her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder. I reciprocate the action closing my arms around her, I lean down and take in the scent of her soft hair and affectionately brush my lips against the top of her head.

"I like the feeling of waking up next to you," she says snuggling in closer.

"Me too."

I sigh staring at the rising sun that shined through a side window. This was the third day we'd been here, we were lucky no one had come across us, but I had a feeling our luck was running short.

"We can't stay here," I say.

She looks up at me questioningly.

"The longer we stay the more likely for someone to find us," I explain.

She sighs, "Wish we could stay. For the first time things feel…normal."

I nod, "I know." I kiss her on the lips once more then stand from the bed putting my pants on. "Stay here," I tell her before heading for the door.

"Where are you goin," she asks smiling with the blanket wrapped around her.

"You'll see," I say then head out of the door and into the kitchen. I wasn't sure why but I felt the strange urge to do something she'd like. I pull out the cut fish that I had gut the day before and fry it in the pan on the gas stove. Cold water would be preferred, but I would have to clean the water in the lake in a way besides boiling it and that would take too long. I'm just about to carry the food back to the room when the roses outside get my attention. I sigh as I stride outside and pull out an ordinary peach rose in full blossom.

Surprise flashes across her face as I walk in; plate and flower in hand. She raises her eyebrow questioningly, "Never took you for a romantic," she says mockingly.

"Shut up and eat," I say the mattress lowering under my weight as I sit next to her.

I watch as her fingertips gently brush against the fragile petals and brings the flower to her noise inhaling the scent.

"Smells good," she breathed. While I was in the other room she had put on the shirt I wore yesterday; it was huge and baggy on her, but she looked good in it. I can't help, but stare at how beautiful she looked. "What," she asks defensive, her cheeks turning red.

"Nothin," I say. She shrugs it off and tenderly pulls apart the fish from the plate. After a moment of watching her I do the same.

"Never seen you smile so much," she says with a grin of her own.

I hadn't noticed until she pointed it out, "Neither have I."

I turn around to reach for the water on the floor of the bed when I feel a small hand on my bare back. I freeze for a moment not used to anybody touching my back, but I come back up with the water and turn around to face her.

"I'm sorry," she says pulling her hands back to herself, a shy smile plastered on her face but the look of worry in her eyes tells me she thinks I'll get mad.

"Don't be," I say. I think about it for a moment, then decide to turn back around so she can see the scars. I'm surprised when I don't feel her hands on me, but I'm even more surprised that I'm disappointed she doesn't. I reach my hand out behind me and I feel her hand slowly slip into mine. I guide her fingers to one of the scars letting her know it's alright.

Her fingertips gently traces the scars, there was a certain relief in sharing my past with someone; I never expected it to feel like this. I can feel her scoot closer as her hands inspect my back. I even feel them brush against my tattoo.

"How," she asks before she kissing one of my scars and wrapping her arms around the front of my chest.

"My dad used to live on a ranch with horses. He liked ridin them when he was younger. Anyway he used the horse whip whenever he was really pissed," I say calmly. Her head rest against my shoulder and her body leans against mine so closely I can feel every intake and exhale as she breathes.

This moment; this is the moment that I would want to last forever. The death, sorrow, and pain; I shut the rest of the world out so that I can stay in this one for just a bit longer. I close my eyes to feel everything about this moment so that I can remember it later on when things get bad, because I know they will…they always do.

* * *

**Beth**

I wake up to a rhythmic back and forth sway but I keep my eyes closed wishing to stay in the peaceful lull that's safer than reality. The first thing that I notice is the aroma that overtakes my senses it was a masculine scent that made a feeling of safety and warmth run through me. In my drowsy state I had forgotten who I was with. I was so wrong when I said dreams were better than reality, before this was the sad truth we all knew but never talked about, but with him by my side the waking hours were a safe and happy place.

I open my eyes glad to be awake; glad to be alive. The sun blinds me and I put my hand in front of my face to block the sunlight. I'm a little confused what we're doing outside when I remember that we had left the cottage this morning. Once again Daryl had refused my plea for me to walk on my own saying it would waste time. I feel his arm around my back and the other underneath the bend in my knees. I had fallen asleep while he carried me.

"Why'd cha let me sleep," I ask disappointed.

"You looked tired. Now you can take watch when I sleep," he says looking down at me with a smile that sends warmth through me. "How'd ya sleep?"

"The nap was good, but I preferred last night," I say flirtatiously. He rolls his eyes, but I catch a glimmer of an awkwardness that showed he didn't know how to handle moments like these.

"Imma stop here," he says setting me down against a tree. Sweat rolls down the side of his face as he jugs the water.

"You know I can walk by myself," I say feeling guilty for tiring him out by caring me around.

"You aint gonna let that go huh," he says.

"Nope," I say.

"I could just beet the stubbornness outta ya," he says teasing.

"I think I could take you," I say just as playful.

"Is that so," he says taking a step closer and lifting both hands up palms facing me. "Alright show me what you got Greene."

"Are you serious," I ask. I didn't like the idea of him critiquing my fighting skills, especially since I lacked in many areas.

"Come on, I aint got all day," he says.

Half-heartedly I punch his hand. For a moment he stares at me blankly, "A real hit," he says and puts his hands back up. I try again this time with as much force as I can muster.

"That's what I'm talkin about," he says shaking the hand I punched. He walks around me and stands right behind me. His body touching mine and his hot breathe on my neck sending a shiver up my spine that I shake off.

He moves my arms and torso with his trying to show me the right movement, but my mind is somewhere else. "Usually you want to get the momentum from your legs as you twist like this and then through your fist forward, but you can't do that with your leg," he says. I try to listen, I really do try, but I'm too distracted by him being so close.

"Go on try again," he says twitching his hand forward telling me to do it again. I punch the air again while he observes the improvement on my form. I can tell I don't do much better since I wasn't actually paying attention to whatever he said.

"Didn't you hear a word I said," he says, but he doesn't sound too bothered by it.

I turn around to face him and my hands circle around his neck pulling him closer to me. "Nope, I guess something else was on my mind," I say a grin widening across my face. I pull him down and kiss him. I meant for it only to be a peck on the lips, but desire takes over me and I sink in closer to him. His hands grip my hips holding me tight, my skin burnning hotter where he touches me. A twig snaps behind us and the growls of walkers follows. In an instant he pulls away from me and is loading his crossbow as I reach for the gun he had given me.

The lone walker falls to the ground an arrow to the eye. He pulls the arrow out of the walkers head and shakes it too get the blood one walker wasn't a real danger to us, but it showed that we had to stay alert, if one could creep on us when we weren't payin attention so could a hundred.

I reach out to grab his arm, but he shrugs off my hold. "Didn't you see what just happened? Damn it girl, have some focus he says marching past me as he roughly stuffs the arrow with the others. I knew it was dangerous and that's what bothered him, but I felt slightly rejected by his comment.

* * *

I watch as the small fire crackles and pops while the flames dance in the wind that will occasionally blow by so hard, I almost think it will snuff out the fire all on its own. I rub my hands back and forth in front of the fire trying to capture the eminating heat. The days were hot but the nights were freezing as autumn approached.

"Come here," Daryl says. I turn my attention away from the fire and glance back at him; he leaned back against the tree the crossbow held in the hand furthest from me. We had been a little distant since the walker had come across us when we were kissing. I couldn't help the resentment I felt towards him when he made me feel rejected. I would rather stay by the fire independent, but when another ice cold wind brushes past us I feel the weaker side of me getter the better of me.

I lean back resting my head on his chest and my hands slide in between his shirt and his vest. One of his arms wraps around my back and the other around shoulders holding me closer to him. Before resting his head against mine I feel a kiss against the top of my head. At first I had assumed his offer was only to keep warm, but as his hand affectionately rubs circles against my back I get the rising sensation that this was his way of trying to ease the tension between us.

"Sorry, bout what I said earlier," he mumbles against my hair.

"It's okay," I say to his shirt as I feel a drowsiness start to cloud my thoughts.

He sighs, "I'm angry with myself for bein so weak."

"Weak?"

"I'm tryin ta keep you safe, but how am I gonna do that when I spend so much time thinkin bout you to make the right choices," he confesses.

A grin spreads across my face, "Thank you."

"You shouldn't be," he says somberly.

"It's a good thing I don't do what ya say then," I say lifting my head up to look into his eyes. He moves closer making our foreheads touch our lips so close they would touch by the smallest of movements. Despite the icy air, underneath my skin my blood boils.

"Daryl, you sold us short for a piece of tail," says a deep voice behind followed by tsks. The voice and words were calm, but I detected an anger hidden in the tone. I jump back at the same Daryl reaches for his crossbow. Two other men stand at either side of the man in the front who was clearly the leader.

"Hold it," he growls at Daryl as he then points the gun at me; Daryl cautiously backs his hand away from the crossbow. The man's eyes find their way back to me with a look filled with foul intentions, "A fine lookin' piece of tail at that. Hello darling, the name's Joe."

A shiver of fear crawls up my spine and my veins turns to ice as the three men's eyes glimmer with an agressive hunger of revenge towards Daryl and lust when their glances were directed at me.


	10. Silhouettes

**So took longer than usual, but it's up! I was thinking about starting another story which will basically be my prediction of how season 5 will turn out and then finish up this story at around 20 chapters or so. Tell me what you think of that, because I'm not so sure if I will. Thank you for reviewing I read them all and I really appreciate what you say!**

**Shout out to new followers: mimsy380, XxMotleyCrueFanxX, i-am-8-bit, guildam595, and kelizabeth13!**

* * *

**Beth**

My mind was in a dream like state, a whirl of hazy thoughts penetrate my mind only to leave before I can make any sense of it…with one exception. We're going to die. It was the only thought that could escape the fog in my head.

Mesmerized like a deer in headlights I focus on the way the orange yellow coloring from the fire flickers across the muzzle of a Glock that had me in its sights.

"I see our supplies have been put to good use," Joe says bitterly pulling me out of my thoughts. I look up as he motions to my wrapped foot. "Course that came at a price, huh, killin O'Neil. Daryl I thought you knew better than to fuck with us."

Daryl kept a stolid expression, but even a few feet away from him I could feel his taut muscles waiting for the fight that was to come. On either side of Joe the two men hold a pistol aimed at Daryl anticipating his next move.

Joe advances towards me, but his eyes stay focused on Daryl watching for any reaction. My own eyes flicker back between Joe and Daryl trying to absorb every expression and silent conversation being made with their eyes. I feel a hand clamp around my upper arm and I'm hauled on to my foot. I hop as Joe drags me closer to the other two men and further from Daryl. My heart pounds and my hands shake.

"This aint got nothing to do with her. Just let her go, you can take me. I'm the one that stole and killed O'Neil," Daryl says slowly rising to his feet. Joe turns me around so that my back is presses against his chest. I feel the barrel of the gun against the side of my head, the cool rounded circle pushed against my ear I was sure it would leave an imprint on my skin.

"You know Daryl that's real sweet, but I think you just made the moment I get to take this girl so much sweeter knowin how much it's gonna tear you apart," he says bitterly. Dread fills me and bile rises in my throat, by the looks on Daryl's face I can tell he felt the same.

I feel like I'm back at the cemetery again fighting for my life as I try to get back to Daryl. At that time I had thought I would die, I thought getting away was the hardest thing I would have to do. I couldn't believe how naïve I was, because the possibility of escaping this was depressingly low.

"Just fuckin' let her go," Daryl growls, the aggression in his voice a clear sign of his desperation. He holds his hands in a fist so tight I see his knuckles turn white.

"Roland, Dan I'm gonna call first claim on this girl."

"I've got second," Dan says in a repulsively excited voice.

"Boys make sure that one doesn't get any ideas," Joe says pointing at Daryl. The both of them stand behind Daryl, both had the pistols aimed at the crown of his head; one on the left the other at the right.

Before I realize what's happening I'm slammed against a tree so hard it knocks the air out of my lungs. I gasp and struggle to breathe in again.

Before I had been shoved against the tree, Daryl had looked up and our eyes met. It was brief, but I caught the blue irises that held nothing but a despair of someone who knows they had lost and perhaps mine held the same. But seeing that in his eyes flickered on a switch. A fierce rebelliousness rises inside of me fueled by an anger that lit fire to my veins and boiled my blood.

Joe must have put his gun back in his holster, because the next thing I know I feel one hand grab my hair and shove my face into the tree while the other runs across my chest. Our shadows from the rising fire cast blank silhouettes on the trees re-enacting our every movement.

Without any real thought of the effects of my decision I open my mouth and cry out. I scream so loudly my throat feels scratchy and dry. A hand clamps over my mouth smothering my screech, but it's too late any walkers nearby would have heard it.

To my right where Daryl is I hear grunts and the sound of fists against skin. I try to turn my head to see what's going on, but Joe too focused on silencing me doesn't hear the commotion. His hand grips my hair pulling my head back and slamming the right side of my head into the tree. The rough bark scratches at my ear and cheek.

The loud boom of a gunshot ripples through the air. This time it gets Joe's attention, he pulls back from my ear from when he had told me to shut up.

My hair falls from his fist as he loosens it, so he can reach for his gun. I have to do something, whether Daryl had managed to fight off Roland and Dan or if they had shot Daryl. _I wasn't going to wait around for someone else to save me. _

Like before I open my mouth, but instead of crying out for help I snap my jaw shut on his hand that covered my mouth. My teeth crush what I think is an index and middle finger. The metallic rust smell of blood pierces my noise and I feel a stream of warm blood spill into my mouth; I want to spit it out, but instead I bite down harder until I hear a loud pop and a final crunch of bone. A bone shattering scream explodes into the night just a mere inch from my ear; rattling me enough that I open my mouth freeing Joe's hand.

I turn behind me and see Joe clutching his hand to chest in pain. I spit out a concoction of blood, saliva, and two fingers. Remembering the gunshot from earlier I whip around to see what happened. Daryl stands a gun pointed at an unarmed Roland while Dan lies presumably dead on the ground. Our eyes meet for just a second before he lifts a gun with his other hand and aims it at me.

* * *

**Daryl**

I look up wanting to see her blue eyes worried it might be the last and I wish that I hadn't. Her eyes contained all of the fear of a wild animal. The guilt it carried with it was like a blow to the gut.

I couldn't believe I failed her again. I couldn't keep her safe no matter how hard I tried. I feel two guns pressed against the back of my head as Roland and Dan stood behind me. In an instant Joe throws her against a tree and puts his hands all over. It takes all of my willpower to keep my feet planted in the ground. A rush of anger rushes through me and my fingers twitch aching to have the weight of the crossbow in my hands.

On my right side I hear a gun cocked, teasing me of the death that was sure to come my way. I didn't care about that, all I could think of was the girl that I loved in front of me. My head goes through every scenario the coming events could go: I die, Beth dies, we both die. I search through every one hoping to figure out how we can both make it out alive.

From the pit in my stomach to the marrow of my bones a need to protect her rises inside of me when I hear her scream fills the night air. I feel the weight of the gun on my right side loosen up and from my peripheral vision, I see Dan had looked up to see what was going on. I turn to my right pulling the gun out of Dan's hand and twist him around so that his back is to mine while facing Roland. I use his body as a shield as he takes the bullet fired by Roland. I can feel the blood that soaks through his backside, from the bullet that must have hit his stomach.

We're at a standstill both of us with a gun to the other. My eyes glance over to Joe who's trying to silence a still screaming Beth.

"Drop it," I yell at him. Hesitantly he drops his gun letting it land on the ground then puts both of his hands up. With my left hand I pull gun out of Dan's holster and let his body slump to the ground at the same time I hear Joe cry out in pain. I dare a glance and see Joe holding his left hand that's covered in blood. Beth turns around and our eyes meet for a brief second of relief. Joe wraps his arm around her neck pulling her close with a gun against her temple. My right hand holds a gun pointed at Joe while my left hand has a gun pointed at Roland.

"I think we all know how this is gonna go down," Joe says choosing to lay out the oppotions they had. "You shoot either one of us…I kill the girl. I kill the girl… you kill us. I guess you'd say we're a something of an impasse."

In between my glances between them, I notice a couple of fingers missing from Joe's hand and the blood that trickles down her chin.

I'm just about to talk when another voice interrupts me. It's not Joe or Roland or even Beth. Suddenly we're surrounded; 5…12…16 people step out from in front of me armed with assault rifles.

"Drop em," the man in the front says to me and Joe.

I hesitate not wanting to let Joe have the clear to kill Beth if I drop my gun.

"We all know ya'lled be dead before you can pull a trigger," the man says sternly. Joe obeys this time setting the gun on the ground and I do the same.

"Now let the girl go." To my relief Joe frees her and she takes a few steps toward me. "Stop there honey," the man says to Beth before she can reach me.

"Now here's how this is gonna go down. You two," he pauses to point a finger at Joe and Roland, "are gonna pack your shit and get on your merry way outta here. Got it,"

Joe nods, but his expression showed no warmth for the situation they were in.

"Steve, Michael show these men off and make sure that's what they."

Two men step out of the crowd of people and follow behind Roland and Joe as they're told to leave. Joe looks behind one last time before leaving and gave me a look that told me we weren't done. I wasn't sure what this guy wanted, but I had a feeling that if he left Joe would be back on his way over here.

"I'm Isaac," he says reaching his hand forward for me to shake.

**SO IRONICALLY TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY...**

** . **

**I got lazy with the second half of editing so hopefully it wasn't too bad! :( Any ways I wanted Joe to be bitten as sort of a hint to the show and the part where Roland and Dan put their guns to Daryl's head was sort of hint to Boondocks Saints! **


	11. What the Deaf Can hear

**So finished this chapter surprisingly fast, but it's mostly just a filler for chapter 12, which will hopefully be up soon. Reviews are appreciated and if you've actually read far enough into my story to read this you're awesome! Shout out to new followers: TWDFan11 and anngun22! **

* * *

**Beth**

Isaac was tall, but he had a lean athletic build that could be seen as intimidating. His hair was cut so short I could only see a few centimeters of growth to tell me he had dark brown hair, but the darkness could have altered its true color.

I wait for Daryl to shake his hand, but when he doesn't I take the initiative putting my hand in his and giving it a firm shake. "I'm Beth, this is Daryl," I say. I'm at a loss as to why the man looks unnerved when I spoke to him. Suddenly I feel the wetness on my lips and remember that he probably saw the blood that blood that stained my face and teeth. I could imagine that I wasn't the prettiest sight right now.

I nod my head and back away from the greeting. I stand close enough to Daryl so that I can feel the tenseness of the muscles in his arm. The warmth from his body comforts me and helps soothe my frayed nerves.

I wasn't sure if we could trust them either, but I didn't understand Daryl's silence. He was observing the situation, I was sure of that much. I was wary of them, but they had helped us and he wasn't being too kind. Shiny surfaces weren't something you could never trust in the apocalypse.

There's was 16 of them altogether, but only 13 currently stood behind Isaac; none of them looked particularly menacing, but then again none of them particularly stood out in anyway. I count five women in the group, which eases my worries.

I see his mouth moving and realize he's introducing me to the rest of his group, "That's Tom." A younger looking man with long blonde hair raises his hand as an introduction. "Kaila," he says pointing to a short brunette to the left of Tom. "And Corey," at the end of the line an average looking man gives us a nod of recognition. I didn't catch everyone else's names, but I probably would've forgotten them anyway.

Isaac seems to hesitate a second before continuing, "We have a camp some miles from here. We're on a run, but you're welcome to join us." My head snaps to my left to see what Daryl thinks. I wanted to go, but I wasn't sure if he did.

Daryl nods his head and pulls me aside so that he can talk with me privately. They seem to relax a bit some of them pulling out their packs for a sip of water or others even going as far as to sit down.

"What do you think," he asks me once we're out of hearing range, but close enough we were still in clear view of them.

"I want to, but I'm not sure if we can trust them," I say honestly.

He nods his head his eyes glancing back at the group, "Me too." He seems to think about something for a moment and finally says, "We should go with them."

I nod my head and turn around when I feel a tap on my shoulder. The woman Isaac had said was Kaila reaches her hand forward with water and a rag. Graciously my fingers tighten around the bottle of water and the rag. She smiles kindly as I pour the water on to the rag and wipe off the blood on my face, then take a small sip of the water to spit out whatever blood was still in my mouth.

"Thank you," I say to her.

"She's deaf," Isaac informs me, but Kaila nods telling me that she understood what I said.

"You have her goin on runs," Daryl states questioningly with a hint of mockery behind it.

"She's more capable than you think," he says.

Daryl shrugs, so I take the opportunity to say more, "We're going with you."

Isaac nods just as Michael and Steve come back. "We're gonna rest for the night, get back on the move come mornin. We found a place not far from here we can sleep there for the night," Isaac says.

Daryl bends down to pick up his crossbow and our supplies. Isaac and the others watch us carefully as he puts a gun in his holster and hands me a gun to put away. It's easy to forget that other people could be just as nervous as we were.

"Is that foot gonna be a problem," Isaac asks nodding his head at my foot.

"Nah, I've got it," Daryl says lifting me into his arms.

"Is it broken?"

"Pretty sure it is," Daryl says.

"We can get that looked at back at the camp," he says before taking the lead to whatever place we were going to stay the night.

Before Daryl starts walking I hop down and grab the stick. "I'm walking," I say determined. He sighs and puts his hand around my back and under my arm as I wrap my hand around his neck to help me hop.

When he said the place wasn't far from here he meant it, less than 7 minutes later we come upon a large abandon barn. There wasn't a house in sight and the old barn looked like it would collapse at the slightest of winds. Inside there's horse stalls and equipment along the sides of the molding wood.

"Steve you're on watch with me," Isaac says glancing at his watch. "Every hour two people will switch for watch duty."

Daryl helps me walk to a secluded corner for us to sleep. I lie down resting my head on his chest like a pillow and wrap my arms around him to get warm.

"Get some sleep, Imma stay up," Daryl whispers into my ear. I nod closing my eyes and I feel myself slowly start to drift off asleep.

* * *

**Daryl**

I open my eyes annoyed that I had started to drift off. The smell of fried eggs pierces my noise. Carefully as to not wake Beth I get up and walk over to the smell, the strap of my crossbow hung loosely around my shoulder. Isaac, Michael, and Christy stare at me as I walk over to where they sit around a small fire that had a pan of frying eggs on it.

"You're up early," Christy says in a strangely condescending voice. I look at the grey morning sky in the cracks of the ceiling.

"So are you," I say not in the mood for conversation.

"We're on watch," she says pointing a finger to Michael and then at her. "And Isaac never sleeps."

"Some watch," I say referring to the fact that neither of them are actually watching anything besides the eggs.

"So, what are you doing up? Do you not trust us," she asks.

"Christy," Isaac says in a stern voice well aware that she was trying to make problems.

"What," she asks in a voice feigning innocence.

"Eat," he says sternly as he roughly stuffs a cup full of eggs in her hands. He then hands a cup to Michael and then to me before getting some for himself. I pick up the plain eggs with my fingers and eat a few handfuls.

"We've been on this run for two weeks, but we'll have to leave soon so we can make it back to our camp by tonight," Isaac informs me.

"Good morning," the soft voice that comes from behind me eases my tenseness. Her blonde hair was knotted in a mess of tangles, but I could only think of how amazing she looked. She sits down next to me as Isaac holds out a cup for her.

"Thank you," she says sincerely. She pauses a moment and then continues, "Thank you for last night. You didn't have to help and you did."

He shrugs off her gratitude, "Thank Kaila, when we stumbled upon you guys she was the main one to convince us to stay. She's a good person like that, usually we try to stay out of messy situations, but she's convincing."

* * *

I stare out the window of the car as drive along the road. Fortunately they had taken three cars for their run so everyone had fit inside without a problem.

Beside me in the backseat Beth chimes away talking to Isaac, Christy, and Tom who was also in the car. She's much better at these things than I ever have been. She tells them about what we've been through at the prison and how she broke her foot. She even talks about how things were before the end of the world. Everyone else seems to enjoy the conversation and they all join in. I learn Christy had also taken up singing as a hobby, Isaac has a five year old daughter, and Tom was an extreme Catholic. It wasn't exactly something he had said right out, but with as many biblical references and the mention of God's plan I took a guess. I even learn that Kaila had been deaf since birth and that while she could read lips really well, she preferred to sign, but Isaac is the only other person who knows how.

I enjoyed talking with Beth, but I couldn't do this small talk or just talk in general. I wonder if she enjoyed talking like this or if she was making conversation out of manners. Does she not talk that much with me, because she thinks I don't want to hear it? It wasn't true if she did think that; while the rest of their conversation bored me, I was interested in what Beth had to say.

"I find it surprisin you can be so pleasant considering you're around _him_ so much," Christy says to Beth.

"You're not exactly peachy yourself," I say annoyed with her shit. Finally the exhaustion from staying up all night gets to me and I fall asleep blocking out any other pointless conversation.


	12. I can't think of anything!

**Blah finals are next week, but I took time out of studying to write. So I had just saw some Bethyl fanmade artwork and I'll be honest I'm going a little crazy fangirling! (lol). I also saw some spoilers for next season and I'm super excitied for season 5! This chapter has more dialogue than usual or at least it felt like more when I was writing it. So tell me what you think I LOVE hearing what you guys have to say even if it's short! Shout out to my new followers: taylorallura and lizzibells!**

**So I've basically been shipping Richonne since season 3 and had been thinking of adding it, but decided I would just add it to the new story I'm gonna write! Do you guys have any suggestions?**

* * *

**Beth**

"Daddy!" I step out of the car with Daryl by my side as I sees the little girl with a blonde braid down her back run towards Isaac yelling excitedly with a huge grin on her face. Isaac crouches down as the girl runs into him wrapping her tiny arms around his neck. He lifts her up resting her on his hip planting a kiss on the top of her head as he stands.

The reunion is so sweet I feel a smile of my own spread across my face despite the sinking feeling in my stomach as it reminds me of my own dad. I choke back the bitter emotions and pay attention to the situation at hand.

"Think you can give us a hand unpacking," Christy sourly calls over to Daryl as she carries a large box and bag in both of her hands.

Isaac turns to her sharply, "They just got here." Christy backs off and walks toward the brick building.

Isaac turns back around to face us, "Sweetheart, do you want to meet the new people."

She nods her head excited. "I'm Emma," she says sweetly extending her tiny had out for me to shake. It was an adorable gesture that I was sure she had been taught.

"I'm Beth," I say and put my hand inside of her baby hand giving it a small shake.

Daryl gently shake's the tiny girl's hand, "Daryl."

"Corey, take them to Jessica's office," Isaac yells to Corey who is just about to grab a bag from the large van. "Jessica is our main doctor; she'll look at that foot for you. You'll have to talk to our leader, so I'll stop by and tell him to meet you there."

* * *

"It's definitely fractured," Jessica says as she looks at my foot. "How'd it break?"

"First it was a sprain, but I kept on running on it and eventually it just broke," I say. Her black hair slides behind her shoulders as she turns to stare at me as I talk. Daryl stands close to me, but not close enough that we're touching. They had asked if he wanted to look around while I was in here, but he chose to stay with me.

"I'm going to use a splint to keep it straight and hope that it heals right on its own," she says with a sigh. "We have crutches you can use in the meantime."

I nod my head and she gets to work wrapping my leg. The room resembled a clinic in many ways the plain artwork, the medical supplies in dark brown cupboards, and tile floor that reflected the light that spilled in from the window. I wondered if they organized the room with that in mind.

"Do you have any pain," she asks.

A knock at the door distracts me from her question.

Jessica opens it and a tall man walks inside. He was so young I couldn't imagine he was even 30. His blond hair was styled and he had a certain sophistication about him as though he group in a mansion with butlers and maids that waited on him, played golf on the weekends, and was school president as a child.

"So you two are the new visitors," he asks in a deep voice as he stares at me.

"It would seem so," Daryl says roughly.

He ignores Daryl's remark and continues, "I'm Josh."

"Beth," I say then point to Daryl beside me, "Daryl."

"Beth," Josh repeats slowly, "That's a pretty name."

"Thank you," I say.

Daryl makes a weird noise that sounds like something of snort as he looks away for a second.

Josh continues either not noticing Daryl's reaction or choosing to ignore it. "Isaac told me how he found you two; he's also said that he thinks we can trust you. Of course that's his hunch and I'm not one for gambling so if you plan on staying here I ask that you give us your weapons, just for a week so we can get to know you."

"We don't know you either," Daryl says.

"You can turn them into Isaac personally if you'd prefer, but either way that's a requirement. Isaac was supposed to take them before he brought you inside, so I've already let enough slide."

Daryl's about to say more and I can tell by his mannerisms that it's not something nice so I cut him off, "That would be fine."

I can feel Daryl's eyes glaring at me, but I pretend I don't notice as I listen to Josh. "I'm a busy man, but you can come to me for questions," he says before walking out.

Not five minutes later, Daryl and I are walking out of the office, of course mine is more of a hop as I use the crutches.

"Ready," Corey asks from where he leans against the wall outside the office. He was suppose to take us to where we would sleep so we could set our things down. Daryl is about to say yes when another voice cuts him off.

"Beth!" The voice is all too familiar; a voice I knew my whole life and would know anywhere. I try not to get my hopes up but I still find myself wishing the voice was who I thought it was.

I turn around just as Maggie slams into me and holds me captive in a tight hug. I let my crutches fall to the ground as I wrap my arms around Maggie.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she says holding me tighter.

"I've missed you," I say happily even though I feel all choked up.

"Maggie did you want to see me," I hear the voice come from the office I just came out of.

Maggie turns around to face Jessica, "Yeah but it's no big deal; I'll stop by tomorrow."

"Are you sure," Jessica asks.

Maggie nods.

"It's okay I'll be right here. If it's serious you should get it checked out," I say to Maggie worried about her.

She shakes her head no, but gets her growing brunette hair in my eyes, "I can go tomorrow. I want to spend time with my sister."

"Is Glenn here," I ask knowing Maggie would be heartbroken if he wasn't.

She nods her head, "Almost everyone is." She walks over to Daryl and gives him a small hug although he doesn't move to give it in return, but he has one of those rare smiles on his face that I've only been seeing more of just recently which tells me he's just as happy as me. "Rick, Carl, Michonne, Judith, Tyreese, Sasha, Bob, and Carol. They're all here," Maggie says grinning.

She turns to Corey, "Everybody's goin to dinner, I can take them there and you can get settled." He nods and walks us looking relieved that he didn't have to do it.

* * *

**Daryl**

As I look at the huge crowd of people that buzzed around the cafeteria the size of this place amazed me; the prison was a joke compared to this.

"How many people live here," I lean over Beth as we walk and ask maggie.

She shrugs, "Maybe a hundred; I haven't asked. I know a good bit of them," she says after a few people wave to her as we move past the long rectaungular tables that took up most of the cafeteria.

Bewildered faces that quickly turn to smiles greet us as Maggie pulls Beth and I to the table. Everybody gets up to greet us, Beth is a little bit more open with hugs than I am.

"I'm glad to see you both alive," Rick says sincerely as he holds Judith in his arms.

"Me too," I say. "How long you guys been here?"

"Bout 3 weeks," Rick says.

"Umm I'm Tara," a girl with short brunette hair says reaching her hand out.

I shake her hand as Glenn explains, "We met them out on the road, we came here with them. That's Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene."

I look at the people Glenn pointed out and recognize Abraham had been one of the people in the group that found us.

I nod as everyone else sits back and down to their plates. I feel Beth's hand slip into mine; I hated the crutches they kept her further from me. At least with the stick I could still stand right by her and put my arms around her to help her; with the crutches all I could do was stand by her. Glenn turns to Maggie, "I'll go get you a plate."

"I can get it," she says grinning.

"I know, but I'm gonna get it for you," he says then gives her a kiss.

"But I have to help Beth get a plate," Maggie says still resisting.

"I'll get it for her," I say to her.

"You sure," she asks.

"Yeah, I'll go with Glenn. You two can catch up," I say to her.

I walk with Glenn to a huge pile of plates people were grabbing from. I wasn't sure how it worked so I let Glenn lead me to an isle where food was laid out that you could grab from like a buffet. I saw buscuits, meat that actually had suace and seasoning on it, vegtables, and types of cakes at the end.

"Aren't they worried about people hoarding," I ask Glenn staring at the food.

"If we've got an excess of food we let people make their own plates," the voice came from behind me. I turn around and find Isaac holding a plate in one hand and his daughter's hand in the other.

"How do ya get food like this," I ask pointing at the bread.

"When people are raiding pantries most don't grab flour and baking soda, but the real secret is generators," he says as he starts piling food on to his daughters plate.

"So you and Beth," Glenn says while we make the plates.

"Yeah," I say slightly defensive. For some reason I had taken what he said as insinuating he knows Beth and I are... together, but when I think about it I wondar if it was his way of asking if anyone else had been with us.

I set the plate of food down in front of Beth and take the seat to her left. Glenn takes his seat beside Maggie who sits on the opposite side of Beth.

"Woah," Beth says amazed when she looks at the food. Without questioning she digs into the food.

"Mind if I join," the sophisticated voice that had the softest southern hint came from just a just a foot away. After several nods of approval (and despite the voice inside my head that says no his request) Josh sits in the empty chair on Beth's right.

"So you knew these people from before," he asks.

Rick nods, "We were all at the prison together. Most of us made it."

"How have you all been adjusting," Josh asks.

"It's good here," Rick says speaking for the group.

"They haven't officially been around yet," Maggie says to him about me and Beth.

"Tomorrow then," Josh says.

He turns away to face Eugene, "How are you findin the office?"

"It's sufficient. I need another supply run for tests; I'll have a list of demands," Eugene responds.

"Whatever you need I get. Leader of the group that saved the world; I like the sound of that," Josh says.

Jessica comes to the table and whispers a few words to Josh, he nods his head and she leaves.

"I feel bad for her doin all the medical work round here,"

"I could help her," Bob says.

Josh nods, "You go to her office tomorrow and tell her that she could use the help. I wish I could help her, but I'm very busy round here and I'm bout as knowledgable as the rest of us since I was hardly able to start my medical degree."

"Why not, you're old enough to have finished the classes," Beth asks.

"I was 22 back home from Harvard on break when all this went down,"

"That's impressive," Beth says shocked.

I snort annoyed with his bragging.

"What's that Daryl," Josh asks.

"Nothin," I say.

"Oh I thought you wanted to say what you had done before. I'm sure it's much more interesting than what I was doing," he says smug. I didn't think mentioning I was a high school drop out that spent my days drunk with a druggie brother was going to beat his standard as interesting.

"You know I just hunted and survived. Manly things like that; you probably wouldn't get it." I say.

He blows off what I say, "Oh I don't know my dad and I we had a real passion for huntin deer and geese." His hand rests on Beth's shoulder, "You all sleep well."

We all walk back to the building together (a four story that had five apartments per story), but I hang in the back watching the group. Michonne and Carl race to the building betting on the chores for the next day; Maggie walks in between Glenn and Beth; Tyreerse and Carol talking behind them; Abraham, Rosita, and Abraham are the only one's behind me; and then there's Rick just a few feet away from me staring at Michonne and Carl with a smile on his face.

"Glad your boy's happy," I ask Rick.

He nods and gives me a sideway's glance, "It's been a long time since Carl could act like a kid. Sometimes I think he forgets it himself."

I nod as he gives Judith a kiss on her head.

He sighs, "I know Carl could never replace Lori, but I think Michonne helps fill the whole missing from that part of his life."

"Think you can get up the stairs," Maggie asks Beth as soon as we're inside.

"I think so," Beth says a she tries to set the crutches at the step.

"Let me," I say then pick up Beth before anyone can say otherwise.

"You sure you got her," Maggie asks.

I nod and carry her up the two small flights of stairs.

"This is familiar," she whispers to me so that only I can hear. I like knowing she wants me to be just as close as I want her. I set her down in the front of her room. Maggie hugs her one last time before going into her room with Glenn.

Since I had been in the back everyone else in the group had already gone to ther rooms. Beth is about to open up her door and go into her room, when I grap her arm pulling her back. I press my lips against hers and she responds by wrapping her arms around me and scooting in closer. I set my hands on her hips savoring the feeling of her lips, missing the feeling of being so close.

She pulls back a second, her eyes glance in the direction of Maggie and Glenn's room. "I'll see ya in the morning," she says then walks inside of her room gently closing the door behind her. I stare at the chips in the white paint of the door.


	13. Red Sun Lake

**Some things were confusing last chapter, because I was a bit rushed when writing it. Beth wasn't shutting Daryl out (he already had a room next to hers, but they aren't sharing a room), nobody knows they're together, and Daryl is a bit passive and letting things slide, because he doesn't want to get them kicked out.**

**Thanks to new followers: EPQS and mrskaz453. Thank you for commenting and reading; I love to hear what you guys think!**

* * *

**Daryl**

The muffled sound of voices outside of my room drags my mind out of the lull of not really asleep, but not fully conscious. I sit up rubbing my face with my hands. I'm about to reach for my crossbow when I remember Beth and I had given our weapons to Isaac yesterday.

The sun just began to peak above the horizon, giving me enough light to see the small studio. The only furniture is a bed, coffee table, and a dresser that sits on the other side of the wall.

I walk out of my room, not knowing what to do with my hands without my crossbow. Maggie and Glenn stand in the hallway just outside their bedroom door talking.

"I'll catch up," Maggie says to him, he throws a nod my way before heading down the stairs.

I have the feeling she wants to say something to me, so I lean against the door to my room crossing my arms. "I had given up hope," Maggie says after a moment passes. "I thought for sure Beth was dead. I mourned her a long time ago," she admits looking down ashamed.

"It's 'lright; none of us thought we'd actually see each other again," I say reassuring her.

She shakes her head, "I didn't give up on the belief that I'd find Glenn though. In the back of mind it would be easier to believe only one of them made it out alive. Thinkin I'd find both felt like pushing my luck, so I decided I would find one of them… and I chose Glenn. I thought if I had hope for Beth bein alive it would break me when I didn't find her." She stops her eyes turning red and tears just about to spill over. I feel uncomfortable standing here as she cried usually Glenn or anyone else was there to comfort her.

"You did what you thought you should; there aint nothin wrong with that," I say.

Maggie shakes her head and wipes her eyes, "You kept her alive; you protected her. I owe you everything. Thank you."

I shake my head and look down as humility of how wrong she was when she said I protected her. "I didn't keep her safe. Not like I should've," I say.

"What do you mean?"

"We were at this cemetery; it seemed safe at the time. The guy who lived there drew walkers toward the house, I fought them off. Told Beth to me outside, by the time I got out he drove away with her."

"But you found her," Maggie says.

"I ran after the car all night, the road forked into different directions. That's when I knew I wasn't goin to find her." It dawns on me that Maggie wasn't the only one who had given up on Beth. "A group took me in. They weren't good, but I figured they were no different than everyone else I grew up with. I left them when I found Beth. They caught up with us, Isaac stepped in before anythin happened." I pause for a moment thinking about everything I just said, "You shouldn't thank me."

"You're both here now; that's what matters. Everything else…that's in the past now. So I'm gonna thank you and you're gonna accept it," Maggie says

"What are you guys talkin bout," Beth asks from the doorway of her room. She steps outs in the hallway with the help of her crutches and closes the door behind her.

"Nothin," Maggie says walking over to Beth and giving her a small hug. "They should be serving breakfast now if you're ready," Maggie says to Beth. Beth nods and just like last night I help her down the stairs as Maggie takes the crutches.

The first thing I notice when I walk outside is the lake that's just across the road. Last night in the dark I hadn't noticed it. I follow behind Beth as she crosses the road resting her hands on the top of the gait that kept people separated from the water. On the other side of the lake rows of houses are lined up and a few other early risers are outside.

After a moment of taking in the view we follow behind Maggie and Glenn; Maggie filling us in on the area as we walk. "On this side of the lake it's just these three studio apartments; this is where new people go. There are two different groups living in the apartments next to ours."

After a few minutes of walking on the road, we start coming up on the other buildings. I recognize the vans we came here in outside of a grey warehouse that's probably used for storage. Next to it is the red bricked house that we had gone to yesterday for Beth's leg.

We cross the street headed for the cafeteria when I feel a light tap on my hand. Beth points to a sign that reads "RED SUN LAKE" in large back letters; below printed in smaller letters says "Gated Community."

I look around the almost deserted cafeteria, just 'round thirty people; small when compared to the crowd last night. After getting our food we sit down to eat at the table Rick, Carl, Tyreese, and Judith (in a high chair) were already sitting at.

"Isn't Michonne usually up by now," Maggie asks them.

"Think she decided to sleep in now that Carl has to do her morning chores today," Rick explains.

"I don't think we have to guess who won the bet," Beth says playfully referring to the race between Carl and Michonne to the apartment last night.

Seeing Tyreese reminds me of Karen and Dan. Does he know? When I heard about what Carol did I wanted to hear it from Carol herself, to know it was true. I trusted Rick and I knew he wasn't lying, but I still had to hear it from her.

After a bit of small talk at the table Maggie turns to Beth, "During the day people take turns watching the young kids, you could do that while your leg heals."

I know with Beth's broken leg she wouldn't be able to do a lot of heavy lifting 'round here, but the comment made me think Maggie still sees Beth as she was before. In the time after the prison and after her being abducted I've been able to see her strength. It was always there, but I had only recently noticed it and I was sure the others didn't see it yet.

"Just like before," Beth says, but something about the way she says it sounds off.

When I'm done eating I take my plate to throw it in the bin with all the other used dishes at the same time Rick does.

"Whatcha think of this place," I ask him.

"It's safe for now," he says.

"I don't trust Josh," I say.

"Neither do I. Every word he says is to boost his ego. He's arrogant; that could be dangerous," Rick says serious.

"Why didn't you guys leave," I ask.

"Any time we talked about where to go everyone started splitting up. Some say they want to go to Washington others say they want to stay, but nobody wants to leave people behind. And bein on the run doesn't seem like a great idea with Judith still so young."

Glenn had told me yesterday about Eugene and his claim to know what caused the virus; as soon as they were able to get all the supplies for the trip to Washington they were leaving. "What do you want?"

He shrugs, "Haven't figured that out yet."

* * *

**Beth**

I was amazed how young the kids were. The oldest was the only nine year old Chris; the rest were between seven and Judith's age. I counted twelve kids so far. After breakfast Maggie decided I should watch the kids with Christy while the others including Daryl went off to do other chores.

I yawn exhausted from the lack of sleep; I had grown accustomed to Daryl always being by my side and had a hard time sleeping without him there. I almost went over to his room last night, but I didn't want him to think I was being needy and I was partly sickened knowing that was exactly how I was acting. Needy. Not to mention I think me leaving Daryl's room in the morning would be a little alarming to the others.

"Glad to see you found a way to contribute." I look up to see Isaac and Emma standing at the doorway.

I hop over to them with my crutches, "Nice to see a familiar face." Out of the ten parents that had dropped of their kids four of them had concerns having a stranger watch their kids, but Christy's presence seemed to crush any worries they had.

"Pretty soon everyone will be a familiar face," he says. A little girl that I hadn't quite met, but Christy had told me her name was Beatrice runs over grabbing Emma's hand and the little girls run off to play.

"Make sure they don't get into too much trouble," Isaac says before heading back out.

I hop back over to Christy so she can continue to fill me in on how this works. I had already gotten the basics down: from 8:00- 10:00 one of us would help them with basic math and reading, while the other would watch the ones that were too young to do work or Chris who was more advanced with more complicated problems and reading. An hour of play time then a thirty minute nap followed by lunch in the cafeteria. She hasn't told me what they do after that though.

"Do you do this all the time," I ask her.

"Some day's people will offer to switch jobs with me. It's nice to get a change, I love these kids, but seven days a week of thirteen kids could drive anyone crazy. That's why I usually volunteer for runs," she says low so they won't hear her.

"At the prison we were at, there was some younger kids, but I just took care of Judith," I say.

She nods listening as she pulls out pencils and papers for the kids. A few minutes pass and out of nowhere she asks, "So what's up with you and that guy."

Bewildered, I shake my head, "What are you talking about?"

"Daryl, right? Kaila and I were out getting sticks for a fire when we first saw you two. It looked like things were getting pretty heated between the two of you. As soon as we realized what was going on we were going to give you privacy, but the men showed up so we went to get the rest of our group to help you."

I didn't like her asking about this; it was too personal. "That is none of your business," I say sternly.

She throws up her hands defensively, "I was just asking. But I've got to say after getting to know ya I'm a bit surprised you're into older men. Although he does have a rugged brusqueness to him that's attractive."

I glance at the clock on the wall; 8:02. I scowl at her and point at the clock, "We should get to work."

The sun is just starting to set when I'm walking back to my room. I decided to skip dinner, I wasn't very hungry and I wasn't in the mood to be around so many people. Maggie had objected at first and tried to settle for helping me up the stairs, but I talked her into eating dinner.

The kids were great and I loved taking care of Judith, but I can't keep back the feeling of something bad happening. I'm almost positive that when I let my guard down about this place, something bad will happen; just like the prison.

My hand wraps around the door to the apartment when I take a glance at the lake. The sun gave off a scarlet glow that the lake's calm water reflected. The combination tainted everything a soft red hue.

I hop up the stairs using the rail, it took me longer than when Daryl carries me, but it's easier than I thought it would be. I'm about to open my door when I stop; I hadn't seen Daryl at the cafeteria. I knock on his door; no response. I open the door after a few more tries at knocking.

His room looks untouched as though nobody lived there, but I suppose mine looked the same. "Daryl," I call out in case he was in the bathroom and didn't hear me. I open up the bathroom to see if he's in there, but sure enough it's empty.

I leave his room disappointed he wasn't in there. I think about going into my room and taking a nap, but I wasn't tired and I hated the idea of being stuck in a small room. I'm thinking about sitting outside when I get a better idea.

I climb the next two flights of stairs opening up the door to the roof. I consider leaving when I see someone else had the same idea, but when I see who it is I step outside with him.

"Hey," I say to Daryl. He sits against the wall across from me. He didn't notice me until I spoke to him. He had a pensive look as he must have been deep in thought.

"Hey," he calls back to me.

I go over to him and sit beside him. "I missed you," I say to him resting my head against his shoulder.

"Me too," he says. I feel his hand reach for mine and our fingers interlock. I hum a song as we sit in a comfortable silence.

"Is this a secret," he asks out of nowhere with a strange urgency in his voice.

"Is what a secret," I ask him.

"Us. Together."

I smile glad to know there was an us. I shake my head, " It's not a secret, but I wanna wait awhile before we say anything."

His hand tightens around mine. "You're ashamed of me," he says roughly.

"I'm not ashamed of you. Maggie's been very protective lately and I don't know how she'd take it," I say sternly at his absurd accusation. He looks into my eyes after I say it.

I lean forward and press my lips against his. The moment takes hold of me and my hands find there in his hair. My heart races and my skin crawls at the warmth that rushes through me, but I still need more.

**I'm still trying to get the overall view of how everything works here, but it takes a lot more writing than I thought it would. Anyways right now Maggie feels guilty about not being there for Beth, so now she is trying to make up by being there fore her now. (Lets be honest in the show she mentioned Beth like once, so I thought I'd try explaining why). **


End file.
